Gregor and the Spinners' War
by goatcloud
Summary: It's been four years since Gregor has last seen the Underland, and now he has unexpectedly fallen back down and cannot return right away. Now, using a prophecy by Nerissa, he chooses to help Regalia to end the war with the spinners quickly. Though he is reunited with his friends for now, he knows it will only make going back home harder. Still, he must help Luxa and her city.
1. Chapter 1

1

Gregor woke in the car with a start. After a few quick looks over his shoulder to see if anyone saw, he took some deep breaths and calmed down. Another nightmare. Well a bad dream at least, because it was not night at the moment. He had not realized he fell asleep in the car, or that his cousin, whom he was traveling with, stopped at a gas station.

He was going to live with her at her home in Pennsylvania. It took a lot of convincing to get his mother to agree to let him go with her as she was over protective after everything that happened four years ago. She had the family move to Virginia, forbade any contact with the Underland, and rarely let Gregor be independent. Wynnora, Gregor's cousin, finally convinced his mom to let her take him with her a week ahead of when the rest of his family would come up. His family would come up when his sister, Lizzie, finished up a Mathlete competition, and his other sister, Maggie (Boots went by Maggie now that she was a big six year old), finished her swimming lessons. This was the first time Gregor was away from his family since he was 12.

Gregor saw Wynnora walking to the car, and quickly tried to look calm. How long was he asleep for? Though she was still wearing the purple dress, Wynnora took off her makeup and heels at some point, and pulled her hair up sloppily. She picked him up for the drive after she left a formal brunch for something about an internship, but it appeared she was back to her usual self. She hopped in the car with a smile.

"Hey there, sleepy head," she greeted him. "I got you something to snack on. You feeling ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine," Gregor lied. He saw she did not believe him.

"You sure? If you need to talk or something, I'm a pretty good listener. Not that I'm bragging or anything," she said with a playful smile.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Gregor knew he could never talk to anyone about what happened in the Underland, or what currently haunted him in his dreams. He often times wished he could talk to someone, but his family rarely brought it up and a doctor would put him in the looney bin.

"If you say so, but the offer is still there," she replied. "Hey. You want to drive?" she asked excitedly. Gregor looked at her surprised.

"Uh, that's illegal, Wynn."

"You said you got your permit."

"Yeah. I did, but I can only drive with a parent or someone over 21," he explained. She had to know this already. Wynnora just waved her hand, as if that brushed away all the rules.

"It's fine. We're in a pretty rural area. No one is going to stop us, and it's a great place to practice. Come on," she said, getting out of the divers seat, "better you mess up with me, than with your mom. She would probably freak out."

Gregor agreed, and switched places with his cousin. He was actually pretty excited to drive. He just recently got his permit, and both his parents were reluctant to let him drive. Wynnora directed him out of the parking lot and back onto the small highway. It was called a highway, but Gregor was used to a lot bigger. "Maybe they just call it that because you have to drive so far on it out here," he thought.

"Gregor," Wynnora said.

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell your mom. Ok?"

Gregor could not help but laugh a little. "Ok."

Wynnora told him that he would drive on this road for a while, so he turned on some music while she read a book. They did not talk much, and his thoughts went to his dream. It was about the Underland again, and he was trying to save the people he once knew there, but was unable. He thought about them now. Vikus must be pretty old. Howard would be around twenty by now, and probably working out to be a great doctor. How was Mareth doing with his prosthetic leg? How was Nike and Aurora?

Then Gregor's mind turned to Luxa. He always tried not to think about her. He had become such close friends (he would never admit to more) with her, and it was very difficult saying goodbye. She must be sixteen by now. Officially the Queen of Regalia.

"Gregor, pay attention," Wynnora interrupted his thoughts. He had been lost in his thoughts after driving for so long, and did not notice that he let the car drift into the oncoming traffic lane. Gregor took note that driving required more concentration than he expected. It was a good thing there were hardly any other cars out here.

"Sorry," he told his cousin, "I got distracted."

She shrugged, "It happens. I guess I should expect a teenage boy's thoughts to drift away," she said with a coy smile. "No doubt, he's thinking about some girl." It was almost a question.

"Real mature, Wynnie," Gregor replied. He was not amused. Wynnora laughed, and told him to turn. Twenty minutes later he told him to turn onto a dirt path that hardly looked like it could pass for a road

"I'm taking you in through the back of the property. If you keep going up that road you can avoid this path and get to the front, but I want to show you something," Wynnora explained.

Gregor slowed way down as he entered the woods. The path was just big enough for the car, and the trees made everything shady. He had to go slow to avoid hitting the bumps too hard. As they continued, Gregor noticed a cave up ahead, and Wynnora instructed him to pull up in front of it. She immediately hopped out of the car with her bag and grabbed two flashlights from the back seat. Gregor turned off the car and sent his mom a quick text that they had arrived safely. He did not want to forget later and get in trouble with her.

"Are we going in there?" he asked. Gregor already knew the answer. Of course they were. Wynnora loved archeology, and had actually just graduated with a degree in it. Gregor suspected she found something interesting in there.

"Yep," she replied, and took a deep breath. After getting trapped in a cave collapse when she was younger, she hated small places and the dark. After all his experience in the Underland, this did not really bother Gregor at all. He did not even need the flashlights, because he was still able to use echolocation. "I found some weird cave paintings in there, and I thought you might like to see them. I can't tell if they're real or some kind of elaborate hoax," she explained. "Not to mention, if I allow my fear of enclosed spaces to continue, it could turn into a phobia," she said jokingly dramatic. "We don't want that now do we?" she gave Gregor a big smile, and started walking in.

Gregor wondered if a dress and sneakers were good for cave exploring, but figured this would not be that adventurous. He followed his cousin into the cave, which declined at a slight angle. They turned on the flashlights when the cave entrance left their sight, and Wynnora mostly kept checking the ceiling with hers. They soon came to the back of the cave, which opened up into a sort of circular room. It was about 25 feet in diameter, and eight feet high. Gregor shined his light onto the walls, and saw that they were covered in cave paintings. Seeing cave paintings would have been enough to impress him, but these scared him.

"Isn't it amazing?" his cousin asked. "They look old. I researched what Native American tribes lived in this area, and the style matches. But I think it's fake, because look here," she said pointing to one painting. It was of large rat, with a human next to it for scale. "This rat is clearly bigger than the person, but the tribes would have known proper proportion by this time."

Wynnora continued talking about the paintings (she could really rattle on just like her uncle, Gregor's father), but Gregor just stared at the paintings. They clearly depicted the creatures of the Underland and people interacting with them. "Is this an entrance?" Gregor wondered. If it was then he had to lead his cousin out of there. He could not let her learn about the Underland.

"Uh, Wynn. Maybe we should go. I don't know how safe it is to wander into random caves." It was the best excuse he had. His cousin just frowned.

"You weren't worried before. Besides, it's not that far underground."

"Yeah, but you know. It could still collapse or something."

"Ugh. Why did you have to say that, Gregor?" She shivered and shined the light to the ceiling again. "Alright, now I need some air. Let's go." She took a step toward the exit, then froze. There was a low sound, as if something cracked beneath them. Gregor felt his stomach drop.

"Oh no," Wynn whispered. She started breathing heavy, and Gregor saw panic spread across her face. "Gregor, you need to leave."

"Calm down, Wynn. I'm not going anywhere. Just try to take another step," he said as nonchalantly as possible. Wynnora took another step, and a louder crack echoed through the cave.

"Gregor go," she said firmly.

"No!" Gregor did not mean to say it so loudly. With that, the floor broke away first under his cousin's feet, then shattered under his own. They were falling.


	2. Chapter 2

2

Wynnora let out a scream, but Gregor just held his breath. For a second he thought he would hit the ground and die, but then something familiar happened. He just kept falling. Wisps of air, like from his laundry vent in New York, rushed past him. They continued to fall. Wynnora was panicking, but could not form words to talk to him. Gregor could not blame her. He just waited until they would inevitably land in the Underland.

Gregor hit the ground with a thud. He clicked his tongue and found his flashlight which had been off in the cave. Wynnora had dropped her flashlight.

"Gregor?" his cousin called out in the darkness with panic in her voice. Gregor knew she was hyperventilating because he had experience from Lizzie's panic attacks. "Funny how Maggie was only two, but was calmer than Wynn," Gregor thought.

"Gregor are you there? Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine, just try to stay calm." He shined his flash light to her. She was on her hands and knees a few yards from him, her eyes wide in fear.

"What do you think I'm trying to do? Panic?!" Wynnora said back. "Of course I'm trying to stay calm." Gregor started to worry that calming a two year old would be easier than calming an adult down here. "Why are you so relaxed?"

Gregor thought a moment. "I don't want to get into detail, but I think I know where we are." She stood and started to say something, but he shushed her. "Do you hear that?" Wynnora listened with him. It sounded like yelling and metal. It was familiar to Gregor. Battle. It was faint, so the fighting must not be too close. Gregor thought. "If there is metal, then that must mean humans. They're the only ones with swords. If we find humans, they may be able to get us to Regalia."

He looked back to his cousin. She was ripping at a layer of her dress. Gregor watched her pull a notebook and pen out of her bag while holding her flashlight in her teeth. "You know where we are, so tell me what to write. In case you family can find this," Wynnora instructed him. He was not sure what she was doing, so he told her a simple note.

Wynn and I fell in a hole in a cave.

We landed in the Underland, but we're safe.

We'll try to get back as soon as possible.

Gregor and Wynn

Gregor watched as his cousin quickly fashioned the fabric she had ripped into a parachute for the folded note. She tied it together with loose thread, then sent it floating up the wisps of air rising to the Overland.

"I don't know if that will make it up, but it's better than nothing," Wynn said. Gregor thought she sounded close to crying. She looked at him. "Now tell me what's going on."

"That's a long story. We need to start heading toward the noise." This was not good enough for Wynnora.

"Gregor, you need to start explaining right now." He ignored her, and started down a tunnel toward the battle. It was a pretty big tunnel, so he hoped Wynnora was not feeling too claustrophobic.

"Gregor," Wynnora hissed, but she followed mumbling insults at him in Japanese. "Why are you so comfortable down here, and why are we walking toward the scary noises?" She was waving her flashlight around, trying to check every dark corner as if something was there. "Man, she is freaked out," Gregor thought. He decided to give her a little information.

"A few years ago, I fell down my laundry vent with Maggie. Turns out there are creatures and people living down here, and I got roped into their business. We are going to the scary noises, because hopefully that is where we can find some humans."

Wynnora just stared at him with wide eyes as they walked on. "There are so many things wrong with what you just said, that I don't know where to even begin."

"Shh," Gregor said. He pressed against the wall of the tunnel, which had gotten a little brighter no doubt from light from the battle, and gestured that she do the same. He peaked around the corner to look at a large cave, and could just make out the battle in the darkness. He saw that there were humans and bats fighting spiders. "Well this is new," Gregor thought. Wynnora peaked around too. Gregor did not think she could see what the humans looked like, but she was alarmed by what she did see. She clamped her hand over her mouth and slammed back into the wall.

"Are those spiders?" she whispered.

"Yeah," Gregor responded. "Ok, listen. I need to go find some help. You to stay here. I'm going to go out there, then I'll be right back."

"Baka!" Wynnora scolded him in a harsh whisper, and punched him in the arm. "Are you crazy? I am not letting you go out there."

"I can handle it. I've done this before." He knew that was in no way convincing, so he decided to just turn and leave before she could object. He ignored her calling after him.

Gregor ran into the battle. People were fighting on bats from up above, but there were also plenty of soldiers on the ground. Gregor had to find someone he knew. He looked around quickly, then saw a sword on the ground that had fallen from the hand of the dead soldier next to it. He ran and grabbed it just in time to block a spider leg that came down to attack him. Gregor had had sword lessons in the past four years (thanks to Wynnora helping him get some without his mother knowing), so he hoped he could rely on that and not his rager instincts.

He hacked away at spider legs. "These things are huge," he thought. He could not get close to the abdomen, so he stuck to cutting at legs. A few chops with his sword could cut through one, and he figured he was doing it right because that is what the other soldiers were doing.

He finally got away from the some of the fighting after some time for a breather, when he saw a familiar sight. A huge bat with a black and white stipe pattern flew over him. "Nike!" he called out. He doubted she could hear him over the noises of the battle. A spider leg came from behind him, and narrowly missed his head. Gregor ducked, and another leg came down. He fell all the way to the ground. "Crap. How could I have let my guard down like that," Gregor reprimanded himself. He prepared to be stabbed with another leg, when a person dropped in from up above. He landed on the spider's head, and drove his sword deep into its eye. The man jumped down to the ground, and cut away two of the spider's legs causing it to stumble and fall to the ground.

When the man turned around to face him, Gregor was overjoyed.

"What are you doing here, Gregor?" he exclaimed, but he smiled broadly as he helped Gregor up.

"Howard, man am I happy to see you," Gregor smiled back. He was about to quickly explain when Nike landed behind Howard.

"Come, Howard. Aurora has informed me that Luxa is injured, and lays hiding in a cave."

"Luxa is here?!" Howard was furious. "I guess she wasn't supposed to be here," Gregor thought.

Howard shoved Gregor onto Nike, then climbed on himself. Nike took off to follow Aurora. "My apologies, Overlander, but I shall listen to your tale another time," Howard said. "If Luxa is not dead, I shall kill her myself." Gregor did like the idea of Luxa dying in battle, and Howard looked worried himself.

They flew across the battle, swerving to avoid spiders dropping from the ceiling instead of trying to fight them. They came to the opening to a smaller cave, and entered just in time to see three spiders approaching two dark figures on the ground. One spider reeled back and screeched in pain, while Nike and Aurora quickly grabbed the other two and threw them against the wall. Howard and Gregor slid off Nike's back before she fully landed, and she left to finish off the last spider. Gregor stood in shock at what he saw.

Wynnora was of her knees in front of an injured Luxa, holding pepper spray in front of her. "How did she get here," Gregor wondered. Just then, the third spider, having escaped Nike, lunged for Wynnora. "Wynn!" Gregor called out.

Howard dove for her, and knocked her out of the way. Aurora grabbed the spider and tore off two legs before throwing it at the wall. Gregor ran to where Wynnora and Howard lay. His cousin got a hold of her flash light and shined it at Howard then almost screamed. Her eyes went wide as she scooted her way back to where Luxa was. She shined the light on Luxa and jumped again covering her mouth with her hand.

Gregor guessed she had not gotten a good look at the Underlanders yet in all the darkness. "Wynn. It's ok, Wynn. Look at me. These are friends. Just breath," Gregor said trying to calm her.

"Where were you?!" Wynnora nearly yelled at him through raspy breaths. She was having a panic attack. "You just ran off like an idiot. Baka!" She punched him again, and Gregor saw tears running down her face. "Don't do that. Tell me what's going on right now," she demanded. Then Howard appeared behind her and stuck a needle in her arm. She turned and looked at him. "You son of a bi-" she passed out before she finished. Gregor helped lay her down gently.

"What was that?" he asked, a little worried.

"A sedative. It will wear off in time. I am sorry Gregor, but I am afraid I could not allow her to distract from the situation. We must retreat with haste," he explained quickly, and then turned to Luxa. "You did well to leave her here, Aurora. If her neck is injured, flying would only aggravate the injury."

Gregor turned to Luxa now. She looked older. Her hair was still short, and she was bea-

"Gregor, help me get her onto Aurora," Howard instructed.

Howard had secured her neck, and they carefully got her onto her bond.

"I will go with Aurora to tend to Luxa. You will look after your cousin on Nike. Regalia is some distance form here, but we should be able to make the return journey without rest," Howard ordered. He lifted Wynnora up, and Gregor helped him get her onto Nike. He then went to Aurora and climbed on. "Fly you high, Gregor." Gregor just waved.

They took off. Gregor held onto his cousin, so she did not slip off. As soon as they took off, Gregor had intense flashbacks of Ares, his own bond. He felt tears well up in his eyes.

"It is good to see you again, Overland, even under the current circumstances," Nike said. "I hope it does not pain you too much to fly once again."

"No. It's fine. It's good to see you too." They spent the rest of the trip in silence.


	3. Chapter 3

3

It was hours before they reached Regalia. Aurora took off in one direction, while Nike went straight for the High Hall. They landed in the hall, and Gregor assumed word was sent as soon as they entered the city because a few Underlanders stood waiting. Gregor slipped off Nike, and a man came forward and helped him get Wynnora down. They laid her on one of the couches along the wall. Gregor knelt beside her. Except for a few scratches, she was perfectly fine.

"Gregor the Overlander," came a familiar voice. "I am pleased to see you once more."

Gregor turned to see Vikus walking up behind him. He looked older, though it had only been four years. Gregor was happy to see that he still had a twinkle in his eye, and seemed relatively strong for an old man, especially one who had a stroke. He smiled, "It's good to see you too. I thought you would be with Luxa." Gregor wondered if it was still alright for him to call her this, now that she was officially queen. Vikus did not seem to mind.

"Oh, I will have a few choice words with her when she awakens. For now, I wish to hear how you came to fall to us once again."

Just then Howard walked through the entrance, and quickly moved toward Gregor. Gregor got a good look at him this time; he was a little taller, and his hair was cut short, not unlike the styles he saw at home. Other than that he looked the same.

"Gregor. I am sorry to have rushed you like that but as you could see, the situation was not suitable for a reunion," he said. He touched Gregor's shoulder in greeting, then moved right to Wynnora.

"Aren't you going to look after Luxa?" Gregor asked.

"She is quite alright. A mild concussion, and some cuts. Our doctors will look after her now. I wish to make sure…. Who is this?" Howard asked. Gregor just realized that they had no idea who she was.

"I was wondering just the same. We were used to you arriving with your little sister, Boots, but the young woman is a surprise," Vikus added. Gregor wondered if he did not trust Wynnora.

"This is my cousin. Her name is Wynnora. We mostly call her Wynn though," Gregor explained. "I was going to stay with her, but she wanted to show me some cave paintings. Then the floor broke, and we fell down right next to where you guys were battling it out with spiders. Or spinners." Gregor watched as Howard checked her for broken bones. "I wonder if he feels bad for sedating her."

"You must have fallen through an old entrance to the Underland. I must admit, I wish you had returned through the same one," Vikus said. Howard stood up again.

"We had no time to look. Our army was being driven back by the spinners, and the situation was only made worse upon hearing of Luxa's presence and injury. I am sorry, Gregor, but we had to leave immediately." Gregor was confused. What were they so sorry about?

"It's fine. Wynn and I can just find a way to get home from New York," Gregor said.

"It will not be that simple," Vikus explained. "At the present time, you cannot exit the Underland."


	4. Chapter 4

4

Gregor sat in the hot bath, but it did not help ease him. In fact he felt sick. "How am I going to get home," he thought. Vikus explained that the passage leading to his old apartment building was collapsed by the spinners, and the war with them prevented the Regalians from spending time to clear it again. The other exit was in an area currently controlled by spinners. Gregor assumed that having lost the battle, the Regalians did not have control over the hole that he and his cousin just fell through either. "How am I going to tell Wynn?"

Gregor got out of the tub, and put on clean clothes. Unlike last time, where he and his sister stayed in a bedroom together, Gregor and his cousin were given more of an apartment. There were two bedrooms, their own bathroom, and a small living room with a dining table. Gregor wondered if they were preparing him for a longer stay.

He walked out to the living room, and was surprised to see Howard sitting at the table. He stood up when he saw Gregor enter.

"My apologies, Gregor. I did not mean to intrude," he said.

"It's fine."

"I know that you must not feel well considering everything that has happened to you, but I thought you might enjoy eating and talking with us."

"Us?" Gregor asked.

"Luxa must stay awake because of her concussion, so I thought you might join us for some time," Howard explained with a weak smile.

Of course Gregor wanted to see Luxa. He tried not to seem too hasty. He peaked into his cousin's room to make sure she was still asleep, then followed Howard down to Luxa's quarters. The guards let them in, and Gregor wondered what he should say to his old friend.

She was laying on the couch, but sat up when they entered. Mareth was with her. Gregor assumed he was telling her news of the battle.

"So you have decided to return, Overlander. What makes you think we want you back?" Luxa said failing to hide a smile.

"Well I didn't come on purpose," Gregor replied. "I don't know why you would think I would want to come back."

They laughed together, and Mareth gave him a bone crushing hug. Howard brought over a platter of food, and they caught up while eating. Gregor had to start, so he explained that his father had made a full recovery and was teaching again. Lizzie still remembered the Underland, but Maggie (the Regalians laughed when they heard his sister thought Maggie was more grown up than Boots) only seemed to remember certain crawlers and fliers. His family had moved to Virginia four years ago, but was now planning to move in with is cousin in Pennsylvania.

"And the woman who was in the cave with me?" Luxa asked.

"My cousin. We fell from a cave behind her house," Gregor explained.

Luxa explained how Wynnora came after her in the cave after seeing spinners head her direction. She then reprimanded Howard for sedating her.

"She was panicking, and we had to flee," he explained, but he blushed slightly.

"You did not even give her a chance. I should take away your sedative privileges."

"Luxa is right. You should work on your skills with women," Mareth teased. They laughed at Howard, who only blushed more. Then he explained how she reacted when she realized what the Underlanders looked like, and they all laughed.

"Strange how one as colorful as her could think our appearance is alarming," Howard noted, no doubt referring to Wynnora's blond, slightly red, hair and pink cheeks.

"You think she's colorful now," Gregor said, "wait until you see her blue eyes." None of them had seen blue eyes before, and were not fully aware that eyes could be blue. Gregor laughed because to him violet eyes, what every Underlander had, were strange.

The Underlanders explained how the spinners made the first attack by seizing Regalian land about a year ago. Before that, the Underland was relatively peaceful. There were few problems with the gnawers, and the city was able to focus on other areas like botany and medicine. However, when the spinners stole land, the Regalians took it as an act of war.

Mareth informed Gregor that he had gotten married, and went on about his wonderful wife, Perdita, until the two cousins made him stop. Gregor was happy to see that Luxa and Howard acted like siblings rather than enemies now, and that Howard stayed mostly in Regalia. They were very close it seemed. Howard said he had not bonded with Nike, because they both traveled too much and were not together as much as they would like. Luxa praised his skills as a doctor, but he insisted he had a lot yet to learn. Luxa said Hazard was visiting the Fount at the moment, and Ripred should return tomorrow from a council with gnawers.

Luxa herself had a long year. It was her first year as official Queen of Regalia, and the adjustment was difficult. The war with the spinners did not help matters. Her cousin said she was doing an excellent job so far, and only suggested that she stop sneaking into battles.

They talked for what felt like hours, about anything form the past four years. Finally, Mareth left, and Gregor felt too tired to stay up. He went back to his room, and fell asleep immediately. He just had time to think how the darkness did not feel as heavy as it did the first time he fell down to the Underland.


	5. Chapter 5

5

The next day he woke up to the sound of someone in the living room, but it was just a servant dropping off breakfast. Gregor was still tired, but figured he should get up. After finishing washing up, he went out to eat. That's when he heard Wynnora wake up.

He heard her give a small yelp, and then panicked breathing.

"Gregor!" she called out. He rushed to her room "Crap," he thought, "why didn't I leave a light on for her." He knew how scary if could be to wake up in such complete darkness, and Wynnora was already scared of being trapped.

"It's ok Wynn. I'm here," he said lighting a lamp. He saw that she had pressed her back against the wall behind her bed.

"Gregor. What's going on? Where are we? Are you ok?" The questions poured out of her.

"I'm fine. What do you remember?" She was holding back tears.

"I. I don't know. Falling in a hole. An- And then giant spiders were attacking. And creepy pale people. With purple eyes. And then you pushed me off a cliff."

Gregor almost laughed at her explanation. Wynnora was always kind of weird.

"Ok, that last part about me was a dream, but everything else happened."

"What… no." She looked around at the dark room made of stone. "No," she repeated, and covered her eyes with her hand.

Gregor soothed her as best he could. When she calmed down he told her about his past in the Underland. "Well at least I can tell her the summary version," he thought. His cousin did not say anything the entire time. She did not even look at him. This made Gregor talk even faster, skipping over the silly parts about his friends. When he finished he asked if she any questions.

"Who drugged me?"

"Uh," Gregor started. He felt bad for telling on Howard like this. "That was actually Howard." Wynnora nodded. Gregor heard someone in the living room. "I'll be right back."

Gregor walked out to the living room to find Vikus and Ripred waiting there. "Geez, no one bothers to knock around here," Gregor thought.

"So the little rager has returned. And not with the little noise maker, which I'm glad to hear," Ripred said. Vikus ignored him.

"How fare your cousin? I assume she is awake now," Vikus inquired.

"Yeah. She's doing fine considering. It's nice to see you too Ripred."

"I am sorry to ask you to leave her so soon, but if you are not busy at the moment, we have a matter we wish to discuss with you," Vikus replied.

"Just let me go check on her." Gregor turned back to the bedroom. He walked in, and saw Wynnora still sitting in the same position. "Wynn? Are you ok?"

"Yeah," she said in a whisper. "You can go with them." Apparently she heard them. Gregor told her where the bathroom was, and that there was food on the table.

"I'll be back soon." With that he followed Vikus and Ripred to a council room. Along the way, Ripred asked about Gregor's echolocation, and seemed somewhat pleased to hear Gregor still had the skill.

"I'm glad to hear it," Ripred said. "Though I assume it was your sister who made you practice. I don't expect much from a lazy one like you." Ripred was kind of right. Lizzie was the one who pushed him to practice.

Upon entering the council room, Gregor was surprised to see there was no council. Vikus must have noticed his surprise.

"The first order Luxa gave as official Queen of Regalia was to disban her council," he said with a shake of his head. "Now she relies of myself for diplomatic matters, Mareth when militancy is needed, and Howard as a sort of servant leader. There are others, but she does not heed their word as much as I would hope." This did not really surprise Gregor, but he wondered why Nerissa was not there.

Luxa stood and immediately got to the point.

"Gregor the Overlander, as you know, all prophecies pertaining to the warrior have been fulfilled, and the warrior has been effectively destroyed. In fact, none of the prophecies of Sandwich are involved in matters today. However, you may remember that my cousin Nerissa has the gift of foresight. In the heat of fever, she has been seen writing prophecies. One of them, we believe is applicable to the current situation."

Gregor felt like a weight came down on his shoulders. He just sighed and plopped down in one of the open seats. There were about twelve people in the room, and they all looked at him as if he was crazy, but Gregor did not care. He was tired, and just wanted to get this over with.

"Alright, what's it about?"

Luxa looked at him funny, then quickly composed herself. Vikus gave Gregor a copy of the prophecy to read, and began explaining.

"As of right now, we cannot see the end of this war with the spinners. The Underland enjoyed a brief time of peace, and we would like to see it return to that peace. Fighting until one side is forced to give in is not an attractive option, but this prophecy holds a chance for a more peaceful resolution," Vikus began. "We could not use it before, because as you can see, the prophecy includes Overlanders. Now, with your arrival, we wish to carry out the plan of the prophecy."

This made the room erupt into argument. Apparently, it was bold for Vikus to claim that was the plan when not everyone agreed with it. The arguing seemed to go on forever, so Gregor tried to collect what information he could.

Gregor read the prophecy, and was impressed by how straightforward and short it was.

The time of peace has come and gone

While war threatened to burn

The war will end, like all must do

When Overlanders return

Act not the name they gave to you

Strike not or act in hate

But go to queen and change the view

Before it is too late

The Regalians took this as meaning they needed to act in peace. They could not act in war (like they usually did) or kill (the name they were given by the Underland creatures was killers). Instead, to end the war they would have to change the view of the spinner queen through peaceful negotiation.

Using the prophecy would mean going to the queen of the spinners, who had been moved to a farther location due to the war, to negotiate terms of peace directly with her. People in the room objected, because this plan would require Luxa to go. The spinner queen would negotiate with no one less that the Relagian Queen herself. Beside Gregor, his cousin, and Luxa, Howard and Ripred would also go. Howard was chosen for his navigation and medical skills, and Ripred because he was a rager and the queen's bond.

Gregor watched as Luxa argued in the center of all the commotion. Even though she was pretty small, maybe 5'2" with a slight frame, she was very intimidating. Howard sat down next to Gregor, when everyone's attention had turned away.

"What do you think of all this?" he asked.

"I don't mean to sound selfish here, but what's in it for us?" Gregor asked. "I don't mind helping Regalia, but I don't want Wynn to risk her life for a bunch of people she doesn't know." Gregor hoped this would not offend Howard.

Howard responded calmly, "If we do not use the prophecy, no one will want to negotiate with the spiders. Brute force is our way. This may be the one chance to end the war quickly and peaceably. If the war is brought to resolution quickly, you may return to your home sooner. If the war continues…" Howard trailed off. Gregor understood. This might be the quickest way home, and that made up his mind. He was tired of sitting here listening to the Underlanders yell at each other. He stood up, and spoke as loudly as he could without yelling.

"Well if anyone is interested in my opinion," he started. This, surprisingly, made everyone fall quiet. "I would like to carry out the prophecy. And I'm pretty sure my cousin will agree with me. Also," he continued, "If that is what your queen wants, I think you should show a little respect and listen to her."

They could have heard a pin drop in the room. Then Ripred broke the silence by bursting into laughter. "Oh, Overlander, it has been dull down here without you. Welcome back!"


	6. Chapter 6

6

Gregor left the council room quickly and walked straight back to his room. "I really hope Wynn agrees with me," he thought. When he entered the room, he was surprised to see her sitting at the table reading. There were four baskets of scrolls and fabric books on the table.

"What's all this?" Gregor asked.

"Reading material. Nerissa… she dropped it off. She said that an archeologist would enjoy them." Wynn shivered. "That creeped me out. Also I don't know how we're on first name basis already." Gregor laughed. Only Wynnora would fall into an underground city and worry about what name to use. "She also said I'm in a prophecy." She gave Gregor a suspicious look.

"Yeah. I kind of said that we would be willing to be involved in a prophecy for them. If that's alright with you," Gregor said nervously. His cousin seemed to consider this.

"Why are you so willing to help them?" she asked calmly.

"It might end the war, and we can get home faster." He thought that would satisfy her.

"Is that all?"

"What?"

"Is that all," she repeated. She looked him in the eyes. "You're not just doing this for some girl, are you?"

Gregor could not believe what she was implying. "Some girl," he asked, unable to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"Yes. Luxa. Or Queen Luxa. The queen. I don't know. The point is you better not be doing this just to impress her."

"Why would you even think that?" Gregor was annoyed now. Sure he liked her like that in the past, but that was four years ago and he thought he was going to die.

"I heard the way you talked about her, Gregor. Did you have to pick a queen to have a crush on? I mean, at least pick a queen from up top," she said pointing upward.

"I'm not saying we should do this for some crush, Wynnora. I'm trying to get home as soon as possible."

"Fine," she said curtly.

"Geez. What are you all upset about?" Gregor immediately regretted saying that.

"What am I so upset about?" she asked standing up. "I'm upset because I just fell down a hole, and now I'm stuck in some underground city. I'm upset because I just graduated and got accepted on a dig, and now that's probably over along with my career. I'm upset because I might not see my family again." Her voice was raising. "I'm upset because Grace trusted me, and I only got you into trouble. I'm upset because you were a child and they used you. I'm upset because you never told me." She looked like she could go on, but stopped. There was a knock at the entrance.

"Come in," Gregor said.

Luxa and Ripred entered, but Gregor and his cousin ignored them. He felt awful now. He forgot to ask how Wynnora was feeling. He looked at her.

"Anything else?" he asked softly. Wynnora thought a moment.

"I think I left my car unlocked," she mumbled.

Gregor could not help but laugh at that, which got a small smile from his cousin.


	7. Chapter 7

7

After introductions, Luxa explained that they would try to fulfil the prophecy, but they would like to see Gregor's sword skills. Gregor was impressed to see how well Wynnora handled her first encounter with a gnawer. She acted as if nothing were out of the ordinary. Then she even agreed to walk to the arena with Ripred, while Gregor flew there with Luxa and Aurora.

When they landed, Mareth asked Gregor what he remembered from his training four years ago. Gregor was pretty happy to tell him that he had actually gotten lessons in the Overland thanks to Wynnora's help.

"So she too knows how to handle a sword?" he asked.

"Well no. Wynn was mostly in it for the history lesson. She was never very good with a sword," Gregor explained. This seemed to disappoint the Underlanders, because, Gregor assumed, she would be far more useful with some combat skills. Gregor continued, "She is pretty good with a bow. Would archery be useful?"

"Not nearly as useful as a sword," Luxa said a bit too bluntly.

"Any skills she may possess will be welcomed," Mareth said giving Luxa a stern look. "Besides, there have been a number of battles won with archers, and a queen would do well to remember this." Luxa looked away.

"So Mareth still gets to talk to his queen like a coach," Gregor thought.

Mareth had Gregor go through some drills with Luxa, but it quickly escalated to fighting. Luxa was fast, but Gregor was stronger. He realized that if he used some of his rager instincts he could still beat her, but decided to challenge the skills he had learned. He was actually having fun, and it appeared Luxa was as well. Mareth seemed happy that Gregor retained his skills.

Soon Ripred and Wynnora showed up to the arena, and it appeared they were talking.

"You should teach your cousin here some manners," Ripred said as he walked up to them. Gregor wondered what they could have been talking about.

"You're one to talk," Wynnora mumbled.

"I wouldn't take an attitude with me, little miss. You're practically useless, and I could kill you in a second," Ripred spat. Wynnora just looked tired of him.

"Well I could be the comic relief," she suggested, "or is that your job, Mr. Sassy Pants?"

Luxa whispered to Gregor, "I can see they have become fast friends." Gregor was not excited about this trip. Luckily Mareth stepped in to defuse the situation.

"Greetings, Overlander, my name is Mareth. Gregor has informed me that you have some skill in archery. Perhaps you would allow me a demonstration." Wynnora glared at Gregor, and he gave a weak smile back.

Howard came up behind Luxa, and Gregor heard him whisper "what did I miss?" Luxa shushed him.

"First off, my name is Wynnora. Or Wynn. Or Wynnie. It doesn't really matter. Second, archery is a hobby. I wouldn't call it a skill." Wynnora's voice was cold. Gregor wondered if his quick telling of his story did not leave the right impression of the Regalians.

"I would still like to see what abilities you do have," Mareth insisted, and handed her a bow made of some kind of bone, a quiver of metal arrows, and something to protect her string hand. "I believe these will suit you."

"Go on, Wynnie," Ripred said in a condescending tone. " _Try_ to hit anything you like." Wynnora glared at him, no doubt for his use of the word try. In one swift motion, she took an arrow from the quiver and shot is straight into the ground next to Ripred's paws, who only stood a few feet from her. He growled.

"Try not to look too impressed," Wynnora said with a mean smirk, "I was aiming for you claw." The other Underlanders looked concerned that she might not be able to do much, but Gregor snickered.

"Watch yourself, girl," Ripred said threateningly. "Aim for that target over there," he ordered, pointing with his tail. It must have been 30 feet away. "Hit the bullseye and I might not eat you."

"And if I don't hit the bullseye?" Wynnora inquired.

"Then I will definitely eat you," Ripred said with a smile revealing his sharp teeth. This time Gregor's cousin did flinch.

"That's motivating," she said, taking a deep breath. Then she pulled out an arrow, took aim, and loosed it. It buried itself deep in the bullseye. Wynnora looked impressed. "These are really good," she said. Mareth smiled proudly at the praise of Regalian weapons. Ripred was not done yet though. He flicked his tail, sending a bloodball into the air. Wynnora drew an arrow and hit it. The rat flicked up eight more bloodballs, and Wynnora hit every single one. Gregor smiled as he looked at the shocked, but impressed faces of the humans.

"I guess that will do for now, Wynnie," Ripred said.


	8. Chapter 8

8

Introducing his cousin to Howard was even more awkward than introducing her to Luxa. Gregor could tell she did not like him one bit. "Then again, she probably doesn't like any of the Underlanders," Gregor thought. He had failed to tell her any good or funny memories he had of his friends down here, and he regretted that. All Wynnora had to go off of was stories about how they used him to end a war.

Gregor asked Nike if she would mind taking him and his cousin back to the palace. She happily agreed. Wynnora's first ride (awake that is) was worse than his own. She kept apologizing, and Gregor knew she did not appreciate riding on a princess. When they finally got in the air, Gregor had to remind her to breath, and she barely kept her balance. She also kept checking above her to see where the ceiling was, which no doubt made her dizzy. Gregor had to try hard to keep from laughing, and he was glad the good natured Nike was the one to help his cousin the first time.

Nike dropped them off in High Hall, and Wynnora thanked her and smiled. Then she shakily walked to a seat and collapsed.

"Congratulations," Gregor said sarcastically, "I think that was the first time Wynn gave a real smile down here." Nike chuckled.

"Then I am honored," she replied. "I shall see you tomorrow when we leave." With that she flew off again. It had been a long day, so when they got back to their room, Gregor ate and went right to bed. He was slightly concerned that his cousin did no eat, but she said she was sick from the flight. She stayed up reading instead.

The next day Gregor woke up when Wynnora called to him. He quickly washed up and ate breakfast. His cousin was rushing him.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to take," she admitted. Gregor helped her pack, trying to remember what was useful to him. They made a quick trip to the museum and grabbed a roll of duct tape, a few flashlights, and as many batteries as they could find. Wynnora also found her things, and took her notebook with her. A Regalian stuck her head through the curtain to the museum, and told them to be in the High Hall in two hours.

Gregor and Wynnora took their time walking to the hall, but got their way early anyway. They decided to sit there for a while to talk. Wynnora talked about the interesting things she read, which was apparently all history, and Gregor wondered if she bothered sleeping. He barely listened to her, and let her rant on.

Mareth and Howard were the first to arrive. Mareth first introduced his bond, Andromeda, to Wynnora. Andromeda seemed happy enough to see Gregor again. Other than Nike, Gregor saw another two fliers with them.

"Meet you Apollo and Persephone," Howard said. Each flier nodded in turn. They were both gray, but Persephone had a gold patch above her right eye and up her ear. "They will be accompanying us on our journey. For the beginning of our journey, Gregor you will ride with your cousin on Apollo," he explained.

Wynnora wandered to a window to wait by herself, which made Howard frown.

"I am afraid your cousin does not like me," he said. "This will make traveling most unpleasant."

Gregor shrugged, "Now you know not to go sedating people."

"Yes, thank you for the valuable lesson," Howard said with a serious face, though Gregor could tell he was joking.

Luxa, Ripred, and Vikus arrived together with two shiners. Gregor involuntarily flinched, and Howard and Nike did not bother hiding their glares.

"Meet you the shiners Lumis and Gleam," Vikus said.

" _I_ wanted to introduce us!" Lumis said.

"Oh hush, you do a terrible job anyway," Gleam spat. If Gregor remembered correctly how shiner lights worked, Lumis was a male and Gleam a female. Wynnora shot Gregor a look of what he assumed to be fear. Her eyes seemed to say, "There is no way I can survive this trip with them."

The shiners bickered for a few minutes until Luxa silenced them and determined it was time to go. Gregor climbed on Apollo, and Wynnora climbed up awkwardly behind him. She must have apologized six times. Luxa and Howard climbed on Aurora and Nike respectively.

"Be safe on your journey, and may it be a success. Fly you high," Vikus said. His grandchildren and Gregor returned the farewell and they left. Gregor noticed that Ripred had left a few minutes earlier. "I guess he will be walking," Gregor thought to himself.

As they flew out of the city, the tunnel narrowed. Gregor thought there was still plenty of room, but he could tell Wynnora was not comfortable. She kept holding her breath, and her shoulders were tense. Worse yet, she kept looking up to see where the top of the tunnel was, and Gregor assumed that made her dizzy. It was not long before she held her stomach from motion sickness.

They flew on for about two hours, and Gregor let his mind wander. He wondered where Ripred was in the darkness below. He wondered what his family was thinking and doing right now. He looked over at Luxa, and she smiled at him before flying forward. He noticed she had a different crown now, and he thought it looked good on her. Gregor must have zoned out, because he was suddenly pulled back to reality by a groan from his cousin. Before he could react, she slipped right off Apollo.

"Wynn!" Gregor called.

"Worry not, Overlander," Apollo said calmly, "Nike was below us, and has caught her." Gregor sighed in relief. He could already hear them talking.

"Nike, could you please land for a minute." It was Wynnora's voice.

"We are not yet scheduled to break, Overlander," Howard responded.

"I didn't ask you," Wynnora snapped back. "Nike, this is more of a suggestion than a request."

"I shall land briefly, if that is what you wish," Nike said.

They all landed on the floor of the tunnel. Wynnora immediately slid off Nike, and walked away from the group and nearly into the darkness. There she threw up. Gregor saw relief on Nike's face that she avoided that. Luxa and Howard just stared at her like she had three heads.

"I do not understand why your cousin is so much trouble. She is not a child," Luxa said. Her cousin nodded. This really annoyed Gregor. "Why can't they be more understanding?" he wondered.

He looked at them, and lowered his voice. "Look," he started, "it's not easy making the transition from Overland to Underland. Wynn hasn't complained once, but this has been really hard on her. Not only does she get motion sickness, but she has also been holding back a panic attack from being in a closed, dark area for two days." Gregor could hear her heavy breathing and figured that panic attack came out now. "The least you two could do is try to be understanding." Howard looked embarrassed, but Luxa just glared at Gregor. Gregor assumed she wanted to say something back to him about talking to a queen like that, but she held her tongue. The fliers rustled their wings to the uncomfortable situation.

When Gregor turned back around he was surprised to see Ripred standing beside Wynnora. He seemed to be talking to her. After a few minutes, Wynnora and Ripred walked back to the group, and they all continued without a word.

Hours later, they landed for the night ("or whatever they call it down here," Gregor thought). Gregor noticed Wynnora was so shaky on her legs she could barely stand. He told her to sit down, and then helped Luxa and Howard take the supplies off the fliers. Ripred finally walked in on them, and everyone settled down.

After they handed out food, everyone sat around in silence. "Geez, this is kind of awkward," Gregor thought. It was Ripred who broke the silence.

"So Wynnie. We hardly know anything about you. Tell us about yourself."

She looked at him suspiciously and asked, "What do you want to know?"

"You don't look anything like our little Gregor here. Are you really cousins?"

Wynnora glared at him. It seemed that Ripred noticed, Gregor was not sure how, and was using it to annoy Wynnora.

"I was adopted," she said civilly enough. "I don't look like my parents either (my mother was Japanese and my father looked more like Gregor). And yes. We really are cousins." Ripred nodded.

"I thought you smelled different." He looked like he had something else to say when Luxa interrupted.

"I regret that you must be away from them," she said. "I hope they do not worry too much from your absence."

Wynnora shrugged, "They're dead." Gregor assumed she knew the question that was still in the air. "Eight months ago in a plane crash. They were headed to a dig in Peru." Gregor wanted to change the topic.

"Wynn, you should sleep. I know you didn't last night," he said.

"I don't need to sleep," she replied coldly.

"Yes you do, and if you don't try then I'll have Howard sedate you again."

Howard blushed, but this seemed to work on Wynnora. She went to sleep along with Luxa and Gregor. Howard took first watch, and said he would wake Gregor in a few hours. The fliers and Ripred were all given a chance to sleep since they had flown or ran the whole trip.

When it was Gregor's turn to take watch, his cousin came to sit with him. He lowered his voice so that the others could not hear even if they were awake.

"You don't like them, do you," he said.

"No, not really," she responded honestly. "Why should I? They lied to you, and used you."

"There is more to them. They became my friends."

"Well from what I heard, they're war crazy and use children." Gregor flinched, which made Wynnora's face soften. "Sorry. Why don't you tell me a more humanizing story about them."

"Once upon a time, I fell into an underground city inhabited by _humans_ ," Gregor joked. It got a small smile from his cousin. He thought for a moment, then decided on an embarrassing story. "Don't tell anyone this, ok?" She nodded. "Remembered when I said me, Luxa, Howard, Maggie, and Hazard went to look for the nibblers?" She nodded again. "It didn't start out like that."

Gregor explained how Howard was not originally invited, but confronted Luxa and Gregor anyway. He explained how he needed to think of an excuse to get rid of him, and Luxa could not think of anything.

"Gregor, you didn't," Wynnora said, trying to hold back a smile.

"I did. I said it was a date," he admitted. "And it was worse than that. I had to explain what a date was." Wynnora put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. "Howard almost believed me. Then later, when we were alone, he brought it up."

"What did he say?" Wynnora asked, clearly interested.

"Oh you know. Don't use that excuse again. Here is a whole list of reasons why. I think it came down to don't touch my cousin." Wynnora covered her laughs again.

"Any excuse would have been better than that," she said.

"Oh yeah. What would you have said?" Wynnora thought a moment. "No hablo ingles," she said with a giggle.

"We know you speak English, Wynn."

"Hey, I didn't say it was a good excuse. Just better than yours."


	9. Chapter 9

9

When everyone woke up, the company quickly packed and set about their journey again. Gregor never realized how boring traveling through a dark tunnel could be. He wished he could ride with Luxa, because they always talked when he was down here last time. However, Gregor knew he could not leave his cousin, and that she would probably find it suspicious if he wanted to ride with the queen.

They only stopped briefly for lunch, and Ripred had to threaten to eat the shiners to get them to stop fighting over some food. Then they continued on until breaking for the day. This time Luxa and Howard began discussing terms of negotiation. Luxa was stubborn with a negotiation tactic that went something like we will not kill all of you if you give us our land back. Howard tried to talk her down from this by suggesting offering them some land to keep. Ripred was just listening for the moment.

Wynnora leaned over to Gregor and whispered, "I don't think they're doing this right." Gregor asked why. "Well why would the spiders want more land? They never tried to take it in the past. I think they don't understand the motives of the spiders." Gregor considered this, then spoke to the arguing cousins.

"Why did the spinners attack?" Luxa looked at him as if she forgot he was there.

"Who knows? Most of the creatures of the Underland despise the humans. That is why we are at war so much. Perhaps they thought it was just their turn to take a strike at us," she explained. Gregor was not impressed, but it was Wynnora who spoke up.

"That's ridiculous," she said. Luxa shot her a frightening look.

"You would do well to watch how you speak to a queen," she said coldly. Gregor heard Ripred chuckle and say something about this being fun.

"Well then, I am sorry," Wynnora said through gritted teeth, "but wars are not fought out of spite."

Howard was annoyed, "And what would an Overlander know of our affairs?" he asked pointedly.

"The Overland isn't that different," Gregor put in trying to calm everyone down. "Maybe she can help a little." Everyone seemed to ignore him.

"Your cousin gave me some records to read about Regalian history and trade. I just assumed you read them too. Then again, I guess a queen is too busy to waste time with such things," Wynnora shot. This was getting out of hand.

"How dare you speak to me in such a tone," Luxa almost yelled it.

"Hold on now. Let's hear what Wynnie the expert has to say," Ripred said, clearly amused. Wynnora waited for Luxa's nod, then started to explain.

"Four years ago, the war with the gnawers was ended. You quickly rebuilt your city then turned your attention to botany. Which was brilliant. Smart move on your part. Except one of the plants you raised was used in the making of fabric, which was an item you previously only traded for from the spinners." Luxa still glared at her, but realization spread across Howard's face. Gregor understood too.

"You stopped trading with the spinners," Gregor said. "They didn't attack you out of spite. They took your land as a bargaining chip for trade again. What did you trade with them?"

"Medicine and fuel," Howard said.

"And labor that requires thumbs," Ripred put in.

"See, Luxa," Wynnora said gently. "They didn't attack out of spite, wars are never that black and white. In fact they probably see you as the bad guy. You may want to change your negotiation strategy."

"How did you arrive at this conclusion?" Luxa asked.

Wynnora shrugged, "It was your cousin who left me the information, and told me what to read. Also, finding how wars got started in kind of part of my job."

Luxa nodded, then immediately changed strategies to involve trade goods. Ripred got involved this time, and together they created a plan for negotiations.


	10. Chapter 10

10

The next day, the party got up and packed. Howard said they would reach the half way point in a few hours, and they would be able to get more supplies there. Gregor hoped something interesting would happen, because he did not know how much longer he could stand traveling in silence that was only broken by the bickering Lumis and Gleam.

They arrived at the half way point around the same time they would have taken their first break. It was some sort of military outpost watched by a handful of soldiers. The tunnel opened up into an enormous cave. About two thirds of the cave was taken up by a lake, but the third that was ground had plenty of space for campsites, supplies, fliers, and training. Gregor appreciated the room.

Luxa began having the supplies prepared so they could leave right away, but Ripred stopped her.

"Why don't we wait until tomorrow to leave? It will be five or six days before the fliers or myself will have a good rest again. Besides, that lake looks like a good place for Wynnie to learn to fly," he said.

"What?" Wynnora asked, clearly concerned.

"Indeed it is," said a soldier, though he kept his distance from Ripred. "The lake is completely empty for the most part. There is occasionally a creature which hunts fliers, but we have scanned the lake already today. It would be safe for her to learn to fly, and have the water break her fall."

"It would give us some time to think of alternative negotiation strategies," Howard added.

Luxa agreed, and they completely unpacked their supplies. Wynnora looked at Gregor.

"But I don't want to learn to fly," she said.

"It will be fun," Gregor assured her. Gregor doubted she liked the idea of learning something as difficult as riding a bat in front of people who were experts, but he thought it would be good for her. She agreed, and Nike volunteered to teach her. Gregor watched as she took off her boots and shirt (she was still wearing what looked like a sports bra), and could not help but laugh as she prepared to fall in. Howard blushed deeply and looked away. Gregor wondered how he would react to bikinis.

"She plans to fall in," Luxa said, as Nike took off.

"Yeah. Want to take bets how many times she'll go in before quitting?" Gregor asked.

"Twice."

"You don't have any confidence in her," Gregor said. "I say at least six."

With that they heard a splash, then Wynnora's laughter.

"She knows how to laugh?" Howard asked. Gregor smiled at the Underlands' shocked faces.

"She actually laughs a lot."

Gregor clicked his tongue, and could make out Wynnora starting to swim back. Nike grabbed her arm and flew her back to the ground instead. Wynnora wobbled for a moment on her legs, then went out again with Nike. The more Wynnora fell, the more Nike laughed. They were both having fun.

Gregor sat down with Luxa. It was the first time he had a moment alone with her. She seemed upset about something.

"What's wrong?" he asked her. She frowned, and seemed to consider if she should tell him. Then she sighed.

"How is it that an Overlander who spent less than two days in Regalia had more insight on its problems than its own queen?" she asked. "I should have drawn such a conclusion already. We are so used to a war fought on hate that I never considered the possibility that the spinners may be justified."

"Don't beat yourself up," Gregor told her. "Wynn lives for political stuff like this. She loves looking through records to see the motives behind countries. Besides, Nerissa pointed her in the right direction." This did not seem to make Luxa feel better. "She could have never come up with a plan like you did. Maybe she thought of a broad strategy, but you knew just what Regalia had, and what it could offer. That's how teams work. Different opinions are great for this sort of thing," he said with a smile.

"Perhaps I should form another council to avoid such blindness in the future."

Gregor smiled, "I think Vikus would appreciate that." That earned a smile from the queen. They talked for another hour or so, and Gregor was starting to wonder is Wynnora and Nike should take a break.

There came another splash, and Nike laughed so hard she crashed into the ground and could not get up again. The Underlanders laughed at the flier's hiccups. Gregor looked out into the water.

"Do you see Wynn?" he asked Aurora who fluttered over when Nike landed.

"No," she replied. Her ears twitched. "There is something in the water."


	11. Chapter 11

11

Gregor's heart stopped.

"Wynn!" he yelled. "Wynn!" Everyone watched the water in silence. Then he heard her again. There was splashing and she coughed water, but he heard her.

"I am coming to retrieve you, Wynnora!" Nike called out.

"No," Wynnora coughed. "Don't do that! There is something out here!"

"She is correct," said a soldier. "The creature which has the Overlander is most likely using her as bait for a flier." Gregor felt sick.

"Wynn, try to swim back!" Gregor called. No reply. "Wynn!" More coughing. "Try to swim!"

"Sorry. Gregor," She said slowly. "It won't let me." Her voice sounded rushed and panicked. "Also I think it dislocated my kn-" She must have been pulled under again. More coughing. "That's it," Gregor thought, "I'm going after her."

"You are not going in there," Howard said as if reading his mind, and shoved a rope into Gregor's arms.

"Why not? She can't swim back." Howard tied the roped around himself.

"You will stay here. I expect I am a better swimmer. Think of a way to distract the creature." With that Howard dove into the water. Gregor thought a moment then turned to Luxa.

"Would you be willing to be a distraction?" Gregor asked her.

She smiled, "That creature could never hope to catch us." She quickly climbed onto Aurora.

"Wait," Gregor said. "If you go out too soon, it will catch on." Nike told him that Howard had reached Wynnora. "Don't get anywhere near where that thing might catch you," Gregor told Luxa. She nodded, and they took off.

When Luxa and Aurora flew above Howard and Wynnora, the creature shot straight up out of the water. Gregor could not see it clearly because of the darkness, but he was sure it was deadly. Aurora narrowly avoided it, but then nimbly avoided its other attacks.

"Pull!" Howard called, and Gregor, along with the soldiers pulled as fast as they could. The creature saw what was happening, and turned its attention to catching its bait again. Gregor hoped they had enough of a head start.

The creature was gaining on them fast, and Gregor pulled harder out of fear that it would catch them. Just has it was about to bite onto the two humans (it was close enough for Gregor to see that it was an enormous eel now), Apollo and Persephone grabbed the rope and pulled them out of the water. Everyone rushed away from the water's edge, and the two fliers lay the humans down.

Luxa landed and immediately began yelling at the soldiers. Ripred was right next to her. She began demanding a more effective way of monitoring the lake. Gregor ran over to Wynnora and Howard. They sat on the ground panting. Howard looked at Wynnora.

"Are you alright, Overlander?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"Baka!" Wynnora smacked him behind the head and began scolding him in Japanese (Gregor realized that his cousin sounded exactly like her mother). Howard stared at her in disbelief.

"I just saved your life!" he yelled at her.

"And you almost lost your own in the process!" she yelled back. "What were you thinking!?"

"Perhaps that we should not allow you to perish in the clutches of some creature!" Howard looked at her knee, and before Wynnora could stop him he popped it back into place. Wynnora bit her lip to avoid yelling in pain.

"Wynn," Gregor said. She looked over at him. "Are- Are you ok?" he asked. She nodded.

"I must stitch your arm," Howard said icily.

"Its fine," Wynnora replied in the same tone.

"It is not fine!" he yelled, then calmed himself with some effort. "Stop arguing with me." She glared at him, but did not say anything. Gregor went and got Howard's medical kit for him, and he began stitching up cuts on Wynnora's arm. There were three deep slashes on her upper arm.

Wynnora noticed Gregor looking, "I think it was trying to make me call for help," she explained.

"Thank you for not doing that," Howard said.

"What?"

"Thank you," Howard said with some difficulty, "for not calling for help. For thinking of Nike first."

"Don't be silly," she said, and gently pushed his head back. Gregor noticed the gesture also pushed his hair out of his face. "And call me Wynn."


	12. Chapter 12

12

It took a while to get everyone calmed down again. Luxa demanded that by the time they returned the soldiers have a better strategy for monitoring the lake. They all looked afraid of her. Wynnora and Howard argued again, this time about medication. Wynnora did not want to act "loopy" from a pain killer. Gregor helped by suggesting they play rock, paper, scissors for it. After a brief explanation, Howard won, and Wynnora took the medicine. The fliers and Ripred slept now, and the Underlanders sat around the fire with Gregor.

Gregor looked over his shoulder to make sure his cousin was ok; she was putting something away in her bag. When he turned back around, Howard asked a question.

"What does this 'baka' mean?"

"She called you an idiot," Gregor replied. There was no sense is sugar coating it. Howard nodded.

"I assumed as much."

"And is this one of the words that Overlanders have made up?" Luxa asked.

"No," Gregor said. "It's Japanese. Another language. Wynn's mom was from Japan, and she always used Japanese when she lost her temper. I guess Wynn picked up her mom's habit."

"She scolded me for saving her life," Howard said, more than a little annoyed.

"Do not pout, cousin," Luxa said. "Such a look does not become you."

"Yeah. You're a lot cuter when you smile," Wynnora said. She scuffed her feet as she limped over, and Gregor thought she looked a little drunk.

"You need not insult me further, Overlander," Howard said.

"Win. Nor. Uh," she corrected him slowly. "And usually that's considered a compliment." Gregor doubted she was trying to compliment him though.

Greogor changed the subject to the negotiation again, and the Underlanders went over their strategy again. Wynnora sat down next to Gregor, and talked as if the other two were not there.

"What was Ares like?" she said bluntly. They all fell silent.

"What?" Gregor could not believe she would ask like that. "Is the medicine making her act weird?" he wondered.

"What was Ares like?" she repeated. "He was your bond right? Like best friend. You should talk about him."

"You know not what you speak of, Overlander," Luxa said clearly angry. Wynnora ignored her.

"He was stubborn. And loyal. And strong." Gregor said. He was surprised that he wanted to talk about his bond. Wynnora nodded.

"You talked about him the most when you told me about the prophecies and junk," she said, and smiled. "It would be a shame if you never talked about him again."

"Well I guess I have you to talk to now."

"Yes," she smiled bigger. "I am such a good listener," she giggled. Gregor appreciated what she did. Though he was slightly embarrassed that the mention of his bond's name made his eyes water, he was happy his cousin said something. She was the first person who knew about the Underland, and was willing to listen to him.

"Yeah, well maybe we can talk about this another time," he said. He meant it too.

"Sure thing, bud," Wynnora giggled again, and laid back. She started humming, and Gregor felt like things were almost normal.


	13. Chapter 13

13

The next day Gregor woke up pleased to see his cousin was still asleep. While Luxa ordered the soldiers to pack the supplies, Gregor gently woke up Wynnora. She opened her eyes and groaned.

"How are you feeling?" Gregor asked. He could not help but be amused.

"My everything hurts," she answered. Gregor laughed, and handed her a bottle of pain killer, which she took without objection.

"Howard said this won't make you 'the loopy'," he said. Wynnora laughed, then punched him because it hurt.

Everyone was ready to go in an hour. Luxa explained that due to the added supplies they would now ride in pairs to more effectively balance weight.

"I will ride wi-" she began, but got cut off.

"Can I go with Nike?" Wynnora asked raising her hand. She put it back down awkwardly. Nike said she liked that idea. "If Howard is jealous, I guess he can be my partner for the day," she added with a mean smile.

"This arrangement will work," Luxa said quickly. "Gregor, you shall ride with Aurora and myself." Howard glared at her, but did not argue. Gregor was just happy at the chance to ride with Luxa.

Everyone climbed on and took off. At first Gregor felt uncomfortable. After four long years, he guessed it would take a while to get used to each other again. It was not long, however, before Gregor and Luxa got comfortable and began chatting. It made the time go much quicker. They often laughed at their cousins' bickering. At one point Wynnora mentioned to Nike that she did not like children, and Howard called her crazy. It ended with him saying he hoped she does not reproduce, and Wynnora making him feel so bad for the statement that he turned a deep shade of red.

The fliers said they did not need a rest, and so the company flew on until it was time to break for the day to make up for lost time. It took almost two hours for Ripred to catch up, and in that time everyone had to listen to the shiners complain about the long flight. Gregor thought Luxa was about the crack and attack Gleam, who was particularly whiny.

When Ripred did arrive, he got straight to business.

"We need to think of an exit plan," he said.

"Why is an exit plan necessary?" Luxa asked. "The spinners will direct us out of their territory when the negotiations are complete."

"And what happens when negotiations fail?"

"Then the honorable thing for the spinners to do is allow the queen to return to her people to prepare for a proper battle," Luxa said, though she did not sound convinced.

"You know better than that," Ripred almost laughed. He was the only one who had been to this part of the spinner territory before on a council for the gnawers. He described three exits; one would be the entrance they entered the throne room through, one would be directly opposite that, and one would be high up close to the ceiling of the throne room.

"I suspect they will allow you two in along with the Underlanders," Ripred said gesturing toward Gregor and his cousin. "You will be a novelty to them. I will be invited to join as a representative of the gnawers. Nike, as princess, will be a representative for the fliers. The three other fliers and those bugs," he glared at the shiners, "will be left outside the throne room."

He then split them into pairs, so that in the event of an emergency escape, the spinner forces will be divided. Nike and Ripred would take the high exit, as he was the only one who knew which high exit to take and they were the only two who could reach it. Luxa would take the most direct exit, which was the direction they came in. Gregor would go with her to protect her, leaving Howard and Wynnora to take the last exit.

"Why am I be paired with the Overlander?" Howard asked. "I think it would be better that I protect my cousin." Gregor heard Wynnora mumble her name in annoyance.

"Because I would rather have a rager prevent her from getting hurt, than have a doctor try to fix her up afterward," Ripred said. Howard glared at him, and was about to say something back when Luxa interrupted.

"Has the company forgotten that I am capable of protecting myself?" she asked.

"We'll see how long that confidence lasts when you're surrounded by spinners," Ripred spat. Gregor was torn between wanting to protect his cousin and wanting to stay with Luxa, but he was afraid that saying anything would cause Luxa to stab him. Wynnora spoke up.

"I think Ripred's plan is our best option. Luxa needs to leave through the safest exit, and if you guys are telling the truth, then Gregor would be the best guard second to Ripred. Sorry you're stuck with me, pal," she said to Howard, "but I think Luxa and Gregor are a good team. Besides, this is only a back-up plan. We probably won't even use it."

"Well then that's settles," Gregor put in quickly before someone else had a complaint. "Now can we work out the smaller details?"

The gnawer explained that Luxa and Gregor would fly as fast as they could back the way they came. Their cousins would exit to the supply room, and follow the river back to the route they were currently on. Ripred would lead Nike to safety himself.

"You will not fail," Howard said firmly. "If she does not return, I will hold you personally responsible."

"Calm down, boy," Ripred said. "Like Wynnie said, this is just a back-up plan."


	14. Chapter 14

14

The next day Gregor got to fly with Luxa again. She scolded him about taking Ripred's side so quickly, but did not seem too upset about it. "Maybe she wanted me to be on her team," Gregor thought. "Not that it matters that much."

They flew on as usual for a few hours, when Gregor noticed the fliers' ears moving as if they heard something unusual.

"Something is approaching," Aurora told them.

"What is it?" Luxa asked.

"We know not."

They flew on for several more minutes, and Gregor knew the fliers were communicating with each other. Suddenly they grouped closer together in a defensive position.

"Nike suspects it is a group of buzzers," Aurora said. "They are approaching from behind us at a rapid pace, and we expect them to attack."

Gregor wondered what buzzers were, but he heard something that sounded almost like bees echo through the tunnel. The tunnel was just wide enough for the fliers to fight well enough, but Gregor knew this was not the most ideal place to get attacked. He looked over to make sure his cousin was alright, and saw Howard giving her instructions. She held onto her bow, but half her arrows fell out as the two of them passed her quiver.

"Keep your eyes on Luxa," he told her, then dropped off Nike onto Apollo. Wynnora's eyes widened as she looked down at him. Gregor almost smiled when he saw her mouth, "Damn. They all do that?" silently. He nodded.

Suddenly there was a loud buzzing, and creatures flew past Gregor. They looked sort of like wasps, with huge stingers, and were about five feet tall. Gregor drew is sword and prepared to fight. It was difficult fighting with two people on one flier, and in only a minute, both Gregor and Luxa were thrown off Aurora.

Gregor landed with a thud, then blocked three stingers and cut off two legs. He was completely relying on his rager instincts now. He knew just where to hit the abdomen to cause the most damage. They wings were also highlighted by his rager senses, and Gregor sliced out with his sword to ground a few buzzers.

He looked around for Luxa. When he finally found her, he saw a buzzer diving straight for her. There was no way he would make it in time. Suddenly an arrow whizzed by, and pierced the buzzer right in the eye. It crashed to the ground, and slid harmlessly to the queen. Still, Luxa was completely surrounded by the buzzers, while they practically ignored the others. Gregor ran over and began fighting closer to her again.

Howard was knocked to the ground, and was about to be stabbed by a stinger when once again an arrow flew in. For a brief moment, Gregor thought his cousin looked frightening firing arrows on Nike, but it did not last long. Her knee slipped, and she fell into Howard, knocking his sword out of his hand. Gregor could not leave Luxa though, who was over whelmed with buzzers. He drew his dagger, and spun around. This did not kill any of the buzzers, but it did give him and Luxa a moment to breath.

Howard instinctively covered Wynnora, but she shoved him in the ribs with her knee and rolled over on him. She fired her last five arrows in rapid succession, and each one found its mark in a buzzer behind Luxa. Then she struck a buzzer that dove for her, which broke her bow.

Gregor focused on the fighting again. He tried to suppress the feeling of fun he got while fighting, but whenever he did, his skills were also suppressed. He did not have the luxury to let his guard down while defending Luxa, so he decided to just enjoy the fight.

Gregor saw legs, wings, and abdomens, and he stuck out at all of them. He took out three more buzzers by removing their wings and slicing deep into their abdomens. The buzzers still outnumbered them, but many of them were also killed, so they retreated. Nike and Persephone pursued them a short distance, eliminating some of the stragglers. Gregor looked around, and saw that one side of the tunnel opened to a river. Wynnora was close to it.

"Are you two alright," Wynnora called. She looked horrified, and was still lying on the ground.

"Yeah," Gregor panted. He was still seeing kill shots, but he had his rager instincts under control.

"Good." Wynnora let out something between a sigh of relief and a groan of pain. She collapsed flat onto the ground. "Put my knee back, Howard," she said.

Howard walked over to where she lay from where he had continued fighting after their fall, and popped her knee back in place. Then Persephone called him over to help Apollo, who had badly hurt his right wing and shoulder. Gregor looked at Luxa.

"Was that an assassination attempt?" he asked.

"It would appear so," she held her wrist, and Gregor assumed she hurt it pretty bad. "I was the buzzers' main focus. They were no doubt hired by the spinners."

"And you thought they were honorable," Gregor said.

"I know better now." She thought a moment. "We must find Ripred," she said, walking to Aurora.

"Have Howard look at your wrist first."

"We do not have time for such things."

"Then at least let me wrap it," he insisted. Luxa reluctantly agreed. While Gregor helped Luxa, his cousin helped Howard patch up Apollo, who was hurt the worst. She was humming a song nervously, and trying not to look at all the blood.

"Perhaps you would like to talk about something to relieve your mind of worries from the battle," Howard suggested.

"Yeah. Sure. That would be nice," she replied, and began asking him a list of question about medicine in the Underland.

Gregor quickly finished wrapping Luxa's wrist, then they unpacked the supplies Aurora carried so she could fly faster. Luxa told her cousin that they would return shortly with Ripred, and he told her to be safe. Gregor hoped that the gnawer had not been attacked as well.

They flew on for about thirty minutes in silence, before coming to an abrupt halt. Gregor stared in shock.

"Stand down you three," Ripred said. "I found some friends."


	15. Chapter 15

15

Aurora landed, and Gregor and Luxa just stared ahead. Ripred stood in front of a group of spinners. "There must be thirty of them, "Gregor thought. "Why are there so many bugs down here?" His hand rested instinctively on the hilt of his sword, and he noticed Luxa did the same.

"Explain yourself, Ripred," Luxa said, her voice steady even facing a group of huge spinners.

"Well I was walking along, minding my own business, when out of nowhere this group ambushes me," he said casually. "I was not having any of that, and after they learned what a rager could do, I guess they weren't either. Of course they calmed down after I explained that I was here with the Regalian Queen to negotiate peace, so they so kindly offered to escort us the rest of the way."

Luxa did not move. She was clearly still thinking about the assassination attempt. Gregor saw her hand tighten on her sword, and he was pretty sure she was going to draw it.

"That was really nice of you guys to offer that," he said to the spinners. Luxa looked like she might slap him.

"The gnawer gives too much credit to our kindness," a large spinner said. Gregor guessed she was leading the group.

"Don't be so humble," Gregor replied. "We appreciate all the help we can get." The spinner seemed to ignore this.

"We shall escort you to our queen, to ensure you do not cause trouble in our land, humans. Disarm yourselves before mounting the flier again."

"We will do no such thing," Luxa said.

"Then we will be forced to kill you here," the spinner replied simply. Luxa saw no way out of this, and began removing her sword. Gregor did the same.

"It's a good thing you're making us take our swords off," Gregor said. "It's not like we have any other way to protect ourselves, right Ripred?" Ripred laughed loudly, revealing his sharp teeth. Apparently he really put the fear into the spinners when they first attacked him, because Gregor saw several of them shift uncomfortably.

Luxa and Gregor climbed back onto Aurora, and they flew back the way they came. The spinners kept close behind, so doubt making sure the humans did not make any wrong moves. They soon arrived back where they left the rest of the group. Upon seeing the spinners, the fliers took an aggressive position, and Howard drew his sword.

"Stay you, cousin," Luxa called out to him. "These spinners are to escort us the remainder of the journey." Howard did not move.

"Have they injured you, Luxa?" he asked.

"No. Now disarm yourself, and prepare to leave at once," she said.

He reluctantly did as he was told. They had no time to collect the supplies they had taken off Aurora because the spinners rushed them. Howard helped Wynnora onto Nike, and soon they were all off again. The fliers had to slow down their pace to stay with the spinners and Ripred who ran along the tunnel.

The rest of the trip was spent in silence. The spinners allowed for one break, but only the exhausted fliers could sleep. Gregor noticed Lumis and Gleam stopped any bickering and stayed as far from the spinners as possible. He wondered if the spinners ate shiners.

It took another day and a half to reach the spinner queen. Gregor wondered when the spinners slept, because the queen was ready to see them immediately. Just as Ripred had predicted, he, the humans, and Nike were invited into the throne room.

The throne room was a round cave with an incredibly high ceiling. Gregor looked at the walls and saw that spinners crawled all over them. He then checked for the exits. The two on the bottom were easy to find, but the third was harder. There were numerous exits above them, and all of them were impossible to reach by a human. Only Ripred knew which exit to use.

There was not actually a throne in the throne room. Instead there was an enormous web strung several yards up. On the web sat the queen of the spinners, and she was both beautiful and frightening. She was larger than all the other spinners, and stared at them in perfect stillness.

"Greetings, Queen Luxa of Regalia," she said in her strange voice.

"Greetings, Queen Tonex," Luxa replied regally. "With me representing the gnawers is my bond Ripred. To represent the fliers is Nike, daughter of Queen Athena. My cousin, Howard son of the leaders of the Fount, is here to represent the humans there." She did not bother to introduce the Overlanders, and Gregor did not mind. He really did not want to waste Tonex's time. Luxa continued, "I have come here-"

"I know why you have journeyed here," Tonex interrupted. "You wish to make peace." Her voice was eerily calm. "Tell me, human queen, why should I be interested in peace, when my army is currently stronger?" Gregor looked around and wondered how outnumbered the humans were.

"It matters not who has the stronger army. Lives will be lost on both sides if this war is allowed to continue. I offer a chance to end this conflict civilly, so that both our people shall benefit." Gregor was impressed with how well Luxa was able to handle the situation.

"You have intrigued me, human queen. Tell me what you offer."

With that, the negotiations started. Both sides started with demands, but it was not long before the Regalians gave in and made some offers. It was clear that they wanted to make this peace treaty work. Luxa handled the discussions of land and territory with perfect diplomacy, while Howard stepped in with trading options. Nike and Ripred both made it clear where the loyalty of the fliers and gnawers lay, though Gregor was pretty sure saying the gnawers would help the humans was a bluff.

Gregor could not tell what Tonex was thinking. Her face was unreadable, and her tone was perfectly even. Judging by what she demanded and offered, Gregor thought they were not getting close to peace. She refused to give up the land she had seized in battle, and demanded trade be kept open with humans. This was too much for Luxa.

"You wish to keep the land you have stolen from Regalia because you do not trust humans," she finally said. "You wish to hold onto it so that you will always have something to bargain with. This is unacceptable. I cannot make peace with those who do not trust me."

"Trust you?" Tonex asked. "Why should the spinners trust you? Humans. Why should any Underland creature trust you? We have seen what you are. Selfish. You drive creatures from their home, and take their land. You claim to suffer cruelty from the gnawers, yet you unleash the worst evils upon them. You speak of fair trade, yet you cast your partners to the side without a thought." Tonex's voice remained even and she did not move, yet Gregor knew she was angry. The spinners on the walls had stopped moving, and were looking at them.

"Why should we trust you killers?" the spinner queen asked. The alternative name for humans made Luxa flinch slightly. "We have no guarantee that you will keep any of your promises, and if we are to learn from the past, then I would be fool to not expect you to break them. No war with the killers can be ended with diplomacy. Only violence."

Howard grabbed Gregor's arm roughly and shoved him next to Luxa. He took his place next to Wynnora. "He thinks we're going to have to run for it," Gregor thought. Ripred must have thought the same, because he was crouched low ready to run.

"I have the Regalian queen before me. I cannot let you go," Tonex said. "Your death will mean a weak leader for Regalia, and victory for the spinners." Gregor's heart raced. "Your company shall be put to death immediately."


	16. Chapter 16

16

"You cannot do this!" Luxa cried, but it was useless. Spinners were already lining up to kill them. Gregor, now that he stood with no weapon in front of an army of spinners, could not imagine trying to escape. Then again, what option did they have?

"You two count to 5, then run," Ripred said to Howard and Wynnora. "You two count to 10, then run," he said to Gregor and Luxa. Then he immediately sprang forward with Nike.

1…2…3…

Ripred tore through spinners with impossible speed, and Nike threw several at the walls, which left them stunned. They successfully gained the attention of half the spinners.

4…5…

"Hasta la vista, Gregor," his cousin said, messing up his hair. She ran toward her exit with Howard. Now the spinners swarmed about, not knowing who to pursue. Nike protected them from above, while Ripred kept clearing the spinners on the ground.

6…7…8…

The spinners caught on to the plan, and began moving quickly toward the center of the cave where Gregor stood with Luxa. He took her hand, not wanting to lose her in the commotion, but also to encourage himself to stay in that spot a few more seconds. They both prepared to run.

9…10

They took off running toward the exit. Gregor was faster than Luxa, and drug her along behind him. They reached the exit, thanks to Nike's protection, but Gregor had no time to check to see if the gnawer and flier made it out. When they exited the throne room, Gregor let go of Luxa.

"Get any weapon you can and let's go," he said.

She was already on it, doing a series of flips to avoid the spinner legs. Gregor was just narrowly dodging the attacks by stumbling. They both made it with difficulty, the few yards to where the fliers and shiners were held. Gregor knew that if they had not split up, everyone would have died trying to fight all the spinners at once. The only reason he made it this far was because over half the spinners went after the others. And luck. "I am getting so lucky right now," Gregor thought as he avoided a spinner leg by pure chance that he tripped.

Luxa went right for her bond, and grabbed Gregor's sword, which was on Aurora, just in time to strike down a spinner. She yelled in pain, and Gregor saw that she could barely hold the weapon with her hurt wrist.

"Gregor, catch!" she called, and threw him his sword. "Now I got this," Gregor thought, and smiled. He let his rager senses take over, and hacked and spun through the spinners. He was not fully aware of anything other than legs and stingers. "I never noticed these guys had stingers."

A neck. Gregor spun around to slice it. "Wait," he thought, "I'm not supposed to hit necks." He stopped himself before hitting Luxa.

"Pay attention, Overlander," Luxa said angrily. He had somehow cleared the area of spinners momentarily. He used the second to wipe the spider goo from his hands into his pants. It did not help much. He and Luxa were both covered in the stuff.

"We must flee." Luxa dragged him onto Aurora, and they took off. Apollo stayed close beside them, the shiners were close behind, and Persephone brought up the rear. The spinners were pouring through the door again, and climbing along to walls to catch up.

Gregor struck out with his sword, and cut down each spinner that dove for Luxa, who tried to use her left hand to defend herself. He then jumped onto Apollo, and the flier helped him get a better angle to attack the spinners.

Then Gregor heard a screech. He turned around and saw two spinners on Persephone, piercing her with their stingers. One stab to the neck, and Persephone fell to the ground dead.

"Persephone!" Apollo cried out, and turned to return to her.

"Do not go back, Apollo!" Luxa yelled to him. "She is gone!"

A spinner leaped out at Gregor and hit him the shoulder while he was watching Persephone. He stabbed it, and Apollo threw his weight to send the spinner flying. Apollo turned around and raced onward with Aurora.

Gregor did not think they could go on anymore; he was exhausted from the fight and Luxa lost her sword. Apollo was badly injured from before and now struck with grief. Just then he heard a low rumble.

"What was that?" Gregor called to Luxa.

She looked at him with fear in her eyes, and shrugged. The spinners seemed to be communicating, and soon they were retreating. Gregor had no idea what happened, but all the spinners were leaving quickly.

"This is our chance," Luxa said, and her face set with determination to escape.


	17. Chapter 17

17

Gregor jumped back over to Aurora because Apollo's injury could not support him. The fliers slowed down slightly to a more sustainable pace, but they were still moving fast. They flew on for an hour, and Gregor saw Apollo lag behind.

"Apollo needs to rest," he said to Luxa.

"He must be strong," she replied. "We must get farther from the spinners before we try to rest. We do not know when they will pursue us again." She was right, but Gregor was still worried. At least Gregor was not badly injured himself (though his whole left shoulder was covered in a purple bruise), and Luxa may have broken her wrist but she had no open wounds. Aurora had also made it out with few injuries.

They flew on for two more hours, before resting. Gregor had nothing to help Apollo with, but he appeared to just want to curl up quietly anyway. Aurora huddled with him.

"This is outrageous!" Lumis screamed.

"You humans have tried to lead us to our death!" Gleam yelled.

"We are leaving at once! You can no longer provide us with food like you promised, so we are not giving you light," Lumis spat. The two shiners began to take off when Luxa called out to them.

"And where will you go?" The shiners paused. "One direction will lead you back to the spinners, and they will most surely devour you." Gregor felt himself smile as the shiners started shaking. "The other direction will lead you to the Regalian outpost. How do you think they will receive you knowing you abandoned their queen?"

"You were going to lead me to my death," Gleam yelled at Lumis.

"Me? This was your idea," Lumis shot back. They fought on.

"I almost wish they would go," Gregor said. "I can find my way in the dark."

"Yes, but we may need their light later," Luxa replied wearily. He looked at her, and though her face was stoic, he could tell she was holding back tears. Gregor could not imagine how she felt. Her first diplomatic mission as queen had failed, her bond was somewhere unknown and in danger, and her cousin in the same position.

"Do you think they made it out?" he asked her. He was seriously worried about Wynnora.

"I must believe they did," she said. She took a deep breath. "Do you need rest?" she asked him.

"No," Gregor shook his head. "Let's take a look at you wrist." They sat down, and Gregor examined it the best he could. It definitely was not broken, but for all he knew it could be sprained or fractured. Luxa allowed him to rewrap it, which Gregor thought was better than nothing. Then he looked into her violet eyes.

"I know you won't believe me, but you did really great back there," he said. She scoffed at him. "No really. Vikus would be proud."

"Yes, but we are still at war. I have failed." Gregor did not know how to respond to that, so he just held her hand. The two of them stayed alert for the few hours they gave the fliers to sleep. With all the flying they had done in the past few days, Gregor did not know how they were still going. When Luxa decided it was time to move on, Gregor asked her if she had a plan.

"We are still too close to the spinners, so we must move forward," she said.

"What about the others?" he asked. "We need to meet back up with them." He watched as Luxa thought.

"Ripred will surely be able to lead Nike to safety, and then retrace our route. Our cousins," she started. The queen looked uncertain.

"Ripred said they had to follow the river down another path. How many rivers are around here?" he asked.

"To my knowledge, just one."

"Well then the last time we saw the river was where those wasp things attacked. Would that be far enough away?" She thought again.

"At least a day's journey from the spinners. We should be able to wait for the company there," she said. Gregor was happy to see the confidence returning to her face. They both climbed on Aurora, and took off. Because they were able to fly faster, Gregor figured it would not take a full day to get back to the ambush site, but he knew it would still take several hours. He hoped his cousin was alright.

They flew on in silence, and Gregor wished there was something to say to Apollo, who was taking the death of Persephone particularly bad. He knew there was nothing to say though. Gregor wondered if they had been mates. They flew for hours, and Gregor thought they might be getting close. Aurora's ears perked up.

"The site is ahead," she said. Gregor heard excitement in her voice. "Someone is waiting there."

"Someone?" Gregor thought. "Just one." He hoped she was wrong.


	18. Chapter 18

18

They flew into ambush site, and the shiner's light flooded the area. There Gregor saw a figure sitting against the wall of the tunnel next to the river. He and Luxa began to run over.

"Gregor?" It was Wynnora. Gregor picked up his pace, but Luxa stopped short. "Where was Howard," he thought. His cousin was sitting under a blanket which had been left behind after the attack. There was a puddle of blood next to her.

"Gregor, are you ok?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." He was so happy to see her. He heard Luxa sob.

"Help him," his cousin told him. She pulled back the blanket revealing Howard. Luxa gasped and ran over.

"Howard? Howard?" She shook him, then put her head to his chest. "His heart beats," she said happily.

"I'm so sorry, Luxa. I." Wynnora started to talk fast. Gregor helped Luxa examine Howard.

"I panicked… and he. It was my fault." She spoke in broken sentences. From what Gregor gathered from it, Howard was hurt (Gregor found a huge gash in his upper left arm), Wynnora lit the spinner's supply of fuel on fire (which Gregor assumed was the rumble that drew away the spinners), then they jumped in the river. That did not explain the blood.

"He lost so much blood in the water, Gregor," his cousin continued. "He was so cold. And. And. I barely found a pulse. And I couldn't just do nothing."

Luxa was properly patching up the gash in his arm, when Gregor noticed a small bandage on his right arm. He looked at Wynnora, and saw a matching one on her left arm.

"Wynn. What did you do?"

"I'm O negative. And I couldn't make it any worse." She was shaking and starting to hyperventilate. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for him to get hurt."

Luxa put a bottle to Wynnora's lips, and made her drink. In a second, she was asleep.

"Stop sedating my cousin," Gregor scolded Luxa.

"I need you to help me, not be distracted by her." Gregor could not argue with that. He assumed the puddle of blood was a Wynnora's; a result of a sloppy blood donation. They stitched Howard's arm, then re-bandaged Apollo's injuries. Luxa would have to wait for her cousin to wake up before she could get help for her wrist.

"Wynnora saved his life," she said to Gregor softly. "She must have pulled him out of the river, and then gave him her blood."

"It was quick thinking," Gregor said. He was proud of her.

"I am in her debt. If I had lost, How-" her voice broke, but she quickly composed herself. "I am in her debt," she repeated. Gregor smiled.

"I remember when you hated him. This is a nice change," he said.

"Oh I still do. He has some nerve causing me such stress. He will not hear the end of it." They both laughed softly.

Just then they heard a noise down the tunnel. Gregor was on his feed in a second, his sword drawn and ready. Nike flew in, with Ripred running behind her. Gregor relaxed.

"Calm down, boy. I'm not that ugly," Ripred said.

"Howard. How fare Howard?" Nike asked. She was clearly scared for him.

"He is alright, Nike," Luxa said gently. "He was injured, but rests now. For now I must get a message back to Regalia."

"That's what I'm here for," Ripred said. "I'll get it back to the outpost, and they'll take it from there." Luxa asked if he had the energy to do this, and he assured her he did. Gregor grabbed paper from Wynnora's book, which had been with Nike, and had Luxa write instructions on it. She scolded Howard in his sleep for not being awake to tell her how many soldiers the Fount could spare. When she finished the message, Ripred took it and was off again.

Luxa sat down next to her cousin, and Gregor told her he would keep watch while she slept. She nodded her agreement. To keep busy, Greogor dressed the few cuts Nike had while she recounted Ripred leading her through the tunnels. Apparently, the blast from the fuel helped in their escape too. When he was done, Gregor sat down and replayed the events of the last few days in his head.

Howard was the first to wake. He looked next to him, and was clearly relieved to see Luxa. He tried to sit up but fell back down. Gregor walked over, and sat beside him.

"Nike is asleep," he said. Howard let a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"I am so happy to hear that," he sighed. "What happened?" Gregor tried to tell him what he knew, but he did not know much.

"She did what?" Howard asked. Gregor held up his cousin's arm to show him the small bandage. "I do not believe it. Did you sedate her?"

"No. That was Luxa."

"Who told her to do that?" Howard was angry. "With her loss of blood, who knows when Wynn will awaken." Gregor smiled when Howard said Wynn.

Gregor woke up Luxa, and the two cousins hugged. Then Howard examined her arm, and determined the wrist was sprained and there was a small fracture. He gave Gregor instructions to put a split on her arm because he was too weak to move.

Gregor gave Nike and Wynnora a few more hours to sleep, and made everyone else eat. When everyone was awake, Gregor flew on Nike with his cousin, and Luxa watched over Howard on Aurora. They flew on mostly in silence. Occasionally he heard the Regalians talk to each other, and he wondered what they were saying. The fliers insisted on flying until it was time to break for the day.

They all dismounted, and then the fliers ate quickly and went right to sleep. The humans sat down together, and none of them looked at each other. Finally, Howard broke the silence.

"What will we say about the prophecy?" he asked.

"That it was wrong. That it lead us astray," Luxa spat.

"We cannot say that, Luxa," he said gently. "Think of Nerissa. If we just throw aside the prophecy, any legitimacy she may have will be lost. People will think her mad, and nothing more."

"And what are we to say?" Luxa was getting angry. "The prophecy meant for me to end this war peaceably. I have failed. We cannot go back to Regalia with excuses."

"Where exactly in the prophecy does it say you would end to war peaceably?" Wynnora asked. They all looked at her in confusion. Gregor thought a moment. There was no mention of that actually, just that the war would be ended.

"It says the war will end, and Regalia will change," Luxa said, clearly annoyed. "I was meant to end this war in a wholly un-Regalian, peaceful way."

"But that's not what the prophecy says exactly," Gregor put in. "So maybe you have to end the war through force. Maybe it won't end right away. But it will sooner or later. And as for changing Regalia. The prophecy actually says 'change the view.' Well you already did that."

"How do you mean?"

"When was the last time a Regalian monarch went out of their way to negotiate peace without fighting, and practically admit their contribution to the war?" Gregor asked.

"It would be safe to say never," Howard said.

"You already started changing Regalia and the image it has. The spinners say you are awful and liars and killers. Well this proves you are putting out the effort to change that. You just need to keep up the good work," Gregor told her, looking into her eyes.

They agreed on this interpretation of the mission and prophecy. Gregor was not sure if Luxa fully believed it, or if she just agreed to it to help Nerissa. Either way, he thought it was right, and it would give Regalia some goals to work toward.


	19. Chapter 19

19

They entered Regalia, and the fliers went right to the High Hall. Ripred had already been informed of their interpretation of the prophecy, and he seemed quite happy with it. Gregor assumed it was because he could use it to his benefit.

When they landed, everything happened quickly. Apollo was rushed away to have is wing looked at by doctors. Howard was also rushed away to have his arm treated. Luxa gave Vikus an incredibly short summary of what happened on the journey. Then she made Gregor her personal guard.

"What?" Gregor did not believe what he heard.

"You will remain by my side during the day. I cannot hold a sword myself, and so I will need protection. I do not know when the spinners will attack the city, but I am sure they will. When that happens, I will have a rager by my side," she said. There was no arguing.

Luxa left with her grandfather, and Gregor was sent to his quarters with his cousin. He was told to wash and rest, then report to Luxa the next day.

"Are you going to be ok on your own?" he asked his cousin. She nodded.

"I'll make myself useful somehow," she said, then walked right into Nerissa. She still looked as thin, weak, and sleep deprived as Gregor remembered her. Her hair hung to her waist in messy curls, which Gregor thought made her look crazier.

"Oh," Nerissa gasped. She shook from the encounter. "My apologies."

"Oh. No," Wynnora said. "It was my fault. I should watch where I'm going."

"Nonsense. Thank you," she said to both of them, "for watching over my family. I knew you were the ones in the prophecy." Gregor exchanged an uncomfortable look with his cousin. Nerissa noticed, which surprised Gregor because she was usually oblivious to her surroundings. "Worry not, Overlanders. Luxa may believe herself a failure, but you see the truth." With that she walked away.

"You know," Wynnora said, watching her walk away, "I like that girl."

They went to their quarters, washed, and ate. They both wanted to stay up and talk, but were too exhausted. It was too difficult to try to stay awake, and they both went to bed.


	20. Chapter 20

20

Gregor and Wynnora got into a routine for the next two weeks. Wynnora woke up early to go train with Ripred somewhere under the palace. Then she went with Dulcet, who had become friends with her. Dulcet was moved from taking care of the children temporarily to gathering supplies in the palace kitchen in preparation for the battle, and Wynnora was helping the staff by showing them how to can unfamiliar vegetable (the Underlanders were still figuring these things out from the increased farming).

Gregor got up each morning, put on his Regalian uniform (which made him self-conscious because he thought he did not deserve it), and reported to Luxa. He followed her on her errands each day to oversee preparations for a spinners' inevitable attack on the city. Gregor got to see the supply rooms, the crops, the armory, training, and much more. At lunch time, he went to the hospital and ate with Howard and Mareth. Then he returned to finish the day with Luxa, before going to his quarters for dinner with his cousin.

It really was not that bad of an arrangement except that Gregor missed his family very much. How long had he been down here? He tried to count the days. No, weeks would be better. He spent two days in Regalia. Then three to the outpost. Three again to the spinners. Maybe only four to get all the way back to Regalia. Then two weeks in the city. It was so hard to count days in the Underland, but Gregor estimated he had been down here for a month.

That was more than enough time for his family to worry about him. He fell down the last day in May. That meant it was probably July now. It was too hard to think about. Maybe something would happen, and he would be able to return home soon.

Gregor was standing on the docks next to the river with Luxa now. Most of the time Gregor could barely follow the plans she made, but this time he knew what she was talking about. She was sending a message to Hazard, who would remain in the Fount until the danger passed. The messenger bowed to Luxa, then climbed on the flier and took off down the tunnel with the river. Luxa sighed.

"I hope my cousins are not too terrible to him," she said.

"Sushanna seemed nice when I met her. I'm sure she's watching him." Gregor liked Howard's mom, and trusted that she would watch him.

"She cannot always be there to protect him," Luxa said. She was about to say something else when Gregor heard a horn go off. He had learned it was the sign for attack. The spinners were making their attack on the city now. They must have snuck past or killed the guards around the city, because they immediately poured in through the river tunnel.

Gregor drew his sword and dagger, and Luxa did the same. She was still barely able to hold the sword, but Gregor knew that would not stop her from trying. They watched as the spinners crawled ups the walls, and some even went on the ceiling.

"You have to go," Gregor told Luxa.

"I do not think I shall. They will not make me flee this time." Aurora landed behind her bond. Greogr thought they looked intimidating, but he knew that Luxa would not be fighting her best. Soldiers began flying out and attacking the spinners.

Greogr pushed Luxa onto Aurora. "Go to the palace like Mareth told you," he ordered her. He was honestly scared to talk to her like this, but he had no choice. "You'll only get in the way out here. You can give orders from the palace, and that will be more useful."

Luxa glared at him. "I will make you regret speaking to me in such a way," she told him.

"I'm counting on it," he said back, managing a small smile. "Now hurry. I'm going to see what help I can be down here." Aurora lifted off, and sped off for the palace. Now Gregor had to find where he could possibly be useful on the ground.


	21. Chapter 21

21

He saw that spinners were dropping down from the ceiling and attacking the Regalian civilians. Soldiers were trying to evacuate them to the High Hall, but they could not go fast enough. Gregor decided to defend the people from the ground.

He let his rager senses take over, then ran into battle. He was just aware enough to know where the humans were that he needed to protect. He sliced out at legs. There seemed to be hundreds of them. When he was able to focus on one spinner, he would chop off two legs so that it would fall, then stab his sword in the eye or slice along its abdomen.

Gregor ran house to house defending the people. This gave them enough time to be evacuated by soldiers on fliers. A particularly large spinner dropped onto to Gregor from above. Gregor rolled onto his back in time to scoot away from the stinger. It pierced the ground, then came up again and came down between Gregor's legs. He scooted away just in time to save one of his favorite body parts. He could not get his sword in an angle to attack from beneath the giant spider, so he used his dagger. It did not go very deep into the abdomen, but Gregor pulled hard and torn a huge slice in it. The spinner reeled back in pain, and Gregor finished it off with a chop to the head.

He looked around. Most of the people were evacuated, and spinners seemed to all be moving in one direction. Toward the palace. The walls were built high, with no entrances on the ground for enemies to enter through. Except the spinners could climb straight up walls. They were all headed for the High Hall, which would be easy to enter with its lack of ceiling. Gregor stared in horror. That was where they were keeping all the civilians and injured soldiers. It would be a slaughter.

Gregor looked up, and saw soldiers and fliers sailing overhead. He waved his hands and called out to them. They must have been busy, because they all ignored him. He needed to get to the High Hall. Suddenly a flier landed behind him.

"Apollo," Gregor said relieved. "Can you get me to the High Hall?" He wondered if the flier should be out here with his injury.

"That was my intention, Overlander." Gregor climbed on, and Apollo took off right way. Gregor chopped down any spinner that came through his path, and Apollo threw several against the wall. They flew over the High Hall and Gregor was relieved to see that most of the people had evacuated the hall. The rest were given a chance to escape by soldiers holding a line of spinners back on the other end of the hall.

Apollo dove in, and Gregor rolled off as soon as it was safe. The spinners were on the floor, so he did not need to be on Apollo. He let his rager senses back through, and spun around to clear away some of the spinners. Gregor sliced away at the spinners alongside the Regalian soldiers. They called out warnings to each other and encouragement to hold their ground. Gregor felt inspired to protect the city, and soon the line of humans was overwhelming the spinners, pushing them out of the palace.

Greogor was tiring, but fought on. He chopped at legs, blocked stingers, and anything else his rager instincts told him to do. After a while, the spinners began to retreat. Mareth dropped into the High Hall with Andromeda, and Gregor thought he looked like a warrior even with the prosthetic leg. He had clearly been fighting.

"Pursue the enemy but stay within the inner perimeter!" Mareth ordered. "I repeat, stay within the inner perimeter! I will not have any of you try to be heroes!" The soldiers climbed onto fliers and took off after the retreating spinners.

Gregor looked around for Apollo, but did not see him. He wanted to help, but a familiar voice stopped him.

"Get over here, boy!" Ripred called. Gregor obeyed, and ran after the gnawer. "Quit dragging your feet, and come on!" he yelled. Gregor scowled at him. What was he in such a rush about? Gregor ran around the bodies, both spinner and human, and tried not to look at them. He doubted he would ever forget the image of them in his life.

Ripred stopped on the other side of the hall. There were fewer bodies here, as they had tried to keep the fighting on the other side to allow people to escape. Gregor looked at what Ripred was standing over, and his heart stopped.


	22. Chapter 22

22

Wynnora lay there covered in blood. Her breaths were quick and irregular. He ran over to her, and saw she held her lower left side, right above her hip. It looked like a spinner had stabbed her.

"Wynn," Gregor said. He knelt beside her, and pressed his hand on the wound to try to help stop the bleeding. He looked around for a doctor, but there were only two in the hall, and they were both handling several injured soldiers.

"Don't worry, boy," Ripred said. "I had word sent to Howard, and I have no doubt that he will come right away." Gregor was not sure it would be quick enough.

"Hey, Grego," his cousin said, trying to manage a smile. She looked too pale, and her face was twisted in pain. "I messed up, man."

"What happened?" Gregor held back his tears, because he already saw the Wynnora was crying and did not want to make it worse.

"Oh," she winced. "You know. Ripred wanted. Me." She let out a cry. "To hold off. The spinners. But." She winced again. "I ran out of arrows."

"We were the first ones here when the spinners attacked the High Hall. She gave the people a chance to escape," Ripred explained. Gregor did not want to hear it. He was angry. His cousin was not supposed to be in the battle. Howard ran up behind Gregor, and immediately began examining Wynnora.

"I came as soon as a chance arose," he said, and began cutting away some of her clothes to get to her wound. Gregor opened the medical kit for him, then back away. He turned to Ripred.

"She wasn't supposed to be out here," he said, and surprised himself with how dark his sounded.

"No?" Ripred asked. "If she had not fought today, hundreds of people may have died in here. Is that was you wanted?" Gregor looked away. Of couse he did not want that.

"You could have gotten anyone else. You could have gotten me."

"I needed her. I've training her just for a situation like this," he said. It took everything in Gregor not the attack the gnawer. He used her.

He knelt back down beside her, and took her hand. She squeezed it in pain.

"It's ok, Wynn," he told her softly. "You're going to be ok." She just cried in pain. It felt like an eternity before Howard finished and said it was safe to move her. The two of them transferred her to a stretcher, and Ripred himself dragger her away. Gregor stood there a moment.

"Is she going to be ok?" he asked Howard. The young doctor was packing his tools to move on to the next victim of war. He paused.

"I am not sure," he admitted. "But I have faith in her."


	23. Chapter 23

23

Gregor sat in a chair next to his cousin's bed, and rested his head on the edge. She woke up the day before, and insisted on reading something to keep her mind off the pain. Nerissa was more than happy to give her some fiction novels by Underland authors, and delivered the fabric books herself to Howard's family's quarters. Though he did not usually live there now that he stayed mostly in Reglaia, he gave up his own quarters so that civilians could stay there until the city was restored. Gregor and Wynnora did the same, and were staying in spare rooms with Howard.

Luxa relieved Gregor of guard duty after the battle, which was two days ago. Scouts were sent to gather any information about the spinners after the retreat, and they reported back that the enemy had been greatly weakened. They doubted they could attack the city again. The queen told Gregor to stay with his cousin, that they both deserved rest. Apparently the Overlanders were both highly regarded by the Regalians; Gregor for defending people in the city, and his cousin for defending people in High Hall.

After the battle had ended, Gregor was allowed to meet with Luxa, Mareth, and Vikus as they recounted what happened and determined what to do next. Mareth completely lost Gregor in all the complexities of the attack, but Gregor felt he helped calm Luxa down to keep her from finishing off the enemy.

Gregor learned from Aurora that Apollo had perished in battle. He had been so badly hurt by the death of Persephone (who had, in fact, been his mate), that he flew into battle in a craze and perished. Aurora assured Gregor that he was reunited with his mate now.

Gregor was completely lost in thought. He thought back to all the lives lost. Of all the bodies: both human and spinner. He tried to shove the image from his mind. There was a knock on the door frame, and Gregor raised his head.

"Come in."

Howard stepped in, and gave a nervous smile. They greeted each other, but Wynnora just kept reading. Gregor doubted she heard them.

"I thought you would be in the hospital," Gregor said.

"Oh. Yes, I would like to be," Howard began, "however, Luxa said she would have me executed if I did not take a break. She has banned me from the hospital, but that shall end in an hour," he said with a smile. Gregor laughed. He watched as the young doctor walked to the other side of Wynnora's bed, and peak at what she was reading. This got her attention, because he had to lean down to see the book from her laying position. Gregor laughed again at how easily Howard could annoy her.

"What?" she asked, pulling the book back defensively.

"Oh, it is nothing," he said. "I did enjoy that book though." He looked back to Gregor and asked, "Could I have a moment alone with Wynnora?" He gave another nervous smile. Gregor looked at his cousin, who shrugged. He helped her into a sitting position, then left.

Luxa was waiting in the living room.

"What does he want to talk to her about?" he asked her.

"I do not know. I was planning to ask you." She looked exhausted.

"What have you been up to lately?" he asked, taking a seat next to her on a sofa.

"I have sent messengers to Queen Tonex. Vikus has convinced me to be kind and not attack her army which remains outside the city. Instead, I have invited the queen here to negotiate an end to the war."

"Hopefully this time she'll be motivated to actually negotiate."

"Yes, well I promised Vikus not to take advantage of their unfortunate situation." She gave Gregor a small smile. "After all, I must continue changing the image of Regalia and humans."

They sat chatting about the current situation of the war for a while. Gregor impressed himself with how much he was able to follow. He was actually contributing to the conversation. "Maybe following around a queen for two weeks is all you need to learn about politics," he thought.

They heard a noise from his cousin's room. Gregor thought it sounded like a short sob, but he was not sure.

"Did your cousin just cry?" Luxa asked. "Perhaps he is examining her wound." No, that was not right. If Howard had hurt her, then they would have heard her yell at him. Gregor stood up.

"I'm going to go check on her. I'll be right back."

When he walked into the room, he was startled to see Wynnora with her head in her hands. Howard sat on the edge of her bed and looked uncertain of what he should do. His face looked like he wanted to take hand, but at the same time fearful that she might punch him if he did. Wynnora looked up, a few tears in her eyes.

"Oh," she wiped away the tears, composed herself, then folded her hands on her lap. "Gregor. I didn't hear you come in."

"Wynnora, I am sorry," Howard told her. She gave a curt nod, and cleared her throat.

"It's fine. Hey, do you two mind if a got a minute alone?" Howard nodded, and began to leave. "And tell Gregor for me." Howard nodded again, and Gregor followed him out of the room.

They sat down with Luxa in the living room. Gregor waited for the young doctor to start.

"First, you should know you cousin should make a full recovery," he began. That actually did relieve Gregor a lot. "However." However? His stomach tied itself into a knot. "The location and severity of her… injury is… problematic… for women." Gregor did not understand. "I did all I could, but I cannot prevent the scarring of her internal organs." He looked at Gregor apologetically. "Wynnora… Will not be able to bear children."

That hit Gregor like a ton of bricks. He had always imagined battle leading to one of two things; either you died or you recovered. Now Wynnora had survived, but she was going to be left with a constant reminder of what happened. She had made a huge sacrifice for a city and people she barely knew. It was not fair.

Gregor zoned out. Howard was apologizing, and Luxa touched his shoulder. It was not their fault, he told himself. These things happen. "Sometimes you just have to fight giant underground spiders and get hurt," he told himself. Howard stood, and Gregor was pulled back to reality.

"… I would like to be the one to help her in her recovery, but I understand if she would prefer someone else."

"No," Gregor said. "You saved her life. Honestly, that's all that matters. That she's still alive and with us. And I'm sure she wants you to be her doctor."

Howard gave a grateful smile, and left to go to the hospital.

"You are right, Gregor," Luxa said. "She is alive, and this is what matters most. I am most sorry for her loss, but her sacrifice will be remembered." Gregor did not really care if it was remembered. "You still have her," Luxa added. That was what Gregor needed to hear.

Gregor was not sure why he did it, but he suddenly pulled Luxa into a hug. She started for a moment, then hugged back. He felt the weight of the last month melt away, and he hoped she felt the same. Luxa was one of the best friends he had, and he wanted her to know it. He held her tighter. After a few moment, she cleared her throat.

"Gregor," she said awkwardly, "this may be becoming inappropriate."

"Right. Right. Of course," he said, and stepped back from her. She was blushing deeply, but smiling.

"I must see Vikus now," she said backing away. "See you later," she said, taking the phrase from him. Gregor said goodbye, then walked into his cousin's room. He just sat with her in silence for a while.


	24. Chapter 24

24

Negotiations to end the war took a full week, and involved Luxa, Vikus, Mareth, Howard, and several other Regalians. This was mainly due to the Regalians trying to appear nice, Gregor thought. At any point, Gregor knew Luxa could just threaten to destroy the remainder of the spinner army and queen Tonex would have to agree to any terms, but they wanted to keep a good image for Regalia.

Luxa was excited when she told the Overlanders that all Regalian lands had been returned, and that they would be able to return through the tunnel they fell in just as soon as Wynnora was well enough to do so. This conflicted Gregor. He was not sure if he should avoid his Underland friends to make the goodbye easier, or take advantage of the time he had left. He finally decided that he would regret not seeing them as much as possible while he still could.

He did not have to stay with his cousin all the time as she had visitors. Howard came on a daily basis to help her through her recovery, and their fighting was not as mean spirited as before. Ripred visited her at least once a day, which Gregor thought he owed her since he caused her to be in the battle. Hazard returned to Regalia, and Gregor introduced him to Wynnora. He was so amazed by how many human languages she knew, and stayed with her for hours at a time to learn. Luxa, Vikus, Nerissa, and Dulcet also made occasional visits.

Gregor used his time to train with Mareth, talk with Vikus, or fly with Nike or Aurora. He also tried to help with rebuilding the city, but he only ever worked with wood before. His lack of skill with rock made him more an inconvenience than anything else. He and Luxa were able to slip away twice to talk alone when she was not as busy. He enjoyed this time with her, because she dropped a lot of her formality. Gregor missed his family so much and could not wait to see them again, but in the meantime he felt like he had formed a family in the Underland.

Gregor estimated that it had been close to another month that they were in the Underland, and he was sitting in the living room with Wynnora and Hazard. Hazard had no problem learning Spanish, Italian, and German (he was only using Wynnora as a dictionary by now), so she decided to challenge him with Japanese and Mandarin. They were joking back and forth in Japanese, and Wynnora tried to get him to speak in a more animated way. They were all laughing when Luxa, Howard, Ripred, and Vikus walked in.

"I see you have taught our young linguist yet another language," Vikus said with a smile.

"I had to," Wynnora replied. "He catches on way too fast. Little genius, think you're so smart." She messed up Hazards thick black hair. He smiled back, and pushed her hand away.

"So, what's going on?" Gregor asked.

"It has been determined that Wynnora is well enough to make the journey to your home," Luxa said. The room fell silent. Gregor felt a strange mix of excitement and sadness. He looked at his cousin, and saw the same thing.

"You will leave tomorrow," Vikus said, "but as Ripred and I leave in an hour to journey to the crawlers' land, we wish to say goodbye now."Gregor and his cousin exchanged looks, then he stood up and walked to Vikus. He felt like he was saying goodbye to his grandfather. He wished he could tell him that.

"Good bye, Vikus," he said. "I'm going to miss you." It was all he could think to say. They hugged.

"Send your family my love," Vikus said, then they released. He looked to Wynnora, who looked uncomfortable with all the touching. "You do not truly think you can escape the Underland without a proper goodbye, do you Wynnora?" he asked her. It got a small smile, and she hugged him goodbye.

"You keep practicing you echolocation," Ripred said to Gregor. "And the next time you fall down, bring Lizzie with you." Gregor was pretty sure that translated to tell Lizzie I miss her in Ripred talk. He turned to Wynnora, "Don't go messing up that wound, Wynnie, we worked too hard to keep you alive for that." Wynnora just smiled.

"Aw, Ripred you do care," she teased, pulling his ear. He snapped at her fingers and walked out the door. They said one last goodbye, and Vikus left too.

Luxa and Howard said they took time off so they could spend the last day with the Overlanders. Mareth and Perdita joined them for a time, and of course Nike and Aurora were there as well. Howard kept nagging Wynnora about proper care of her wound.

"Now just because I am allowing you to return to the Overland does me you are fully healed," he said.

"Allowing me?"

"You must still apply ointment, and stretch it. I have provided you with everything you need, as I suspect you would like to avoid suspicion in the Overland." He both wrote, and told her detailed directions for everything, and Wynnora rolled her eyes and just stared at him in boredom.

They ate a big dinner together, and talked for hours. They tried to keep everything light hearted, though Gregor suspected that the Underlanders were also a bit sad to see them go. They stayed up as late as possible, and everyone ended up sleeping in Howard's living room.


	25. Chapter 25

25

They next day Luxa and Howard along with Aurora and Nike took them the long hours back to the tunnel Gregor and his cousin fell through. Howard was going to ride with Luxa, but Wynnora made him go with her and Nike, and she gave a sly smile to Gregor. He appreciated that.

Luxa leaned on his back and rested her head on his shoulder like she used to do all those years ago. They did not bother to talk, though they heard Wynnora telling Howard to be quiet every time he repeated instructions for caring for her wound. Gregor took it all in, and appreciated every minute of it.

They landed where the battle had taken place, and began looking for the exit. It felt unreal to Gregor. He was just supposed to return home and go back to his normal life. How was that ever going to happen? He had seen and experienced things down here that he would never be able to forget, and he was not sure he wanted to. His only consolation was that he now had Wynnora to talk to, who no doubt had things she would never forget as well.

They found the tunnel fairly quickly, then Gregor braced himself for the final goodbye. Howard and Wynnora looked at each other awkwardly, then she asked him to go over the directions again. She led him away from Gregor and Luxa, to where Nike was waiting with the supply kit. Another kind gesture from her.

"So," he said to Luxa. She managed a weak smile, and took his hand.

"Good bye, Gregor," she said, looking into his eyes. He tried to memorize her eyes.

"Good bye, Luxa," he said back. He hoped his tone conveyed everything he was feeling, but he doubted it. He really did not know what he was feeling. Their cousins walked back over, and they quickly let go of each other's hands.

Howard gave a quick embrace to Gregor, "Tell your family that they are missed in the Underland," he said.

"I shall miss having your council, Wynnora," Luxa said.

"Oh," Wynnora said waving her hand to brush off the queen's words. "If I stay any longer, you would probably execute my insolent a-"

"Ok, Wynn. That's enough," Gregor cut her off. They laughed.

"You are correct in this," Luxa said.

They both said good bye to Aurora, who said little back. Gregor felt that she was in fact saddened by their leaving though. The Overlanders climbed onto Nike, who had volunteered to take them up. She spread her wings, and the updraft raised her up with little effort. Wynnora turned on her flashlight when the Underlander's torch light disappeared. They rose for several minutes before reaching the cave.

They climbed off the flier, and Wynnora immediately hugged Nike.

"I will miss you so much," she said. The flier closed her eyes in the embrace.

"And I will miss you," she said in return. Gregor gave his final good bye to Nike, and she dropped back down the hole.

The two Overlanders began walking out the cave without a word, and they both hoped it was night time. Neither wanted to know what it felt like to see the sun right after two months underground. Lucky for them, the sky had stars when the exited the cave.

"No car," Wynnora said.

"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?" Gregor asked.

"Depends on who has it, I guess. Come on, the house is only as short walk."

They walked for about fifteen minutes, though this was at a slow pace. Wynnora's wound was hurting her, and they both wanted to be outside. When they approached the house, only the kitchen light was on. Gregor noticed his cousin's car in the driveway, along with his parents' cars.

They walked quietly up to the driveway to the back door, and Wynnora unlocked it. Gregor hoped no one thought it was a break-in. Gregor set down their bags in the door way, and before he could take another step he heard a familiar voice.

"Gregor!" Maggie yelled. She ran up to him, and wrapped him in a tight hug.

"Hey, you," he could not help but say this seeing his younger sister.

His parents and Lizzie appeared right after and hugged him too. Questions streamed out of them. They had gotten the note, but they were so worried. Gregor's dad hugged his niece. Gregor was so happy to be home with his family.

"What happened? Tell me everything," his mother demanded. Gregor gave a quick look at his cousin, then looked back at his mom.

"That's going to take a little while. Maybe we should all sit down."


End file.
